


Two Thirds of a Whole

by MysticMoonhigh



Category: Deadpool - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel 616, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: A LOT of Angst, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Anal Sex, Angst, Blowjobs, Eating out, F/F, F/M, Fingering, First Time, First Time Bottoming, Heterosexual Sex, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magic, Major character death - Freeform, Masturbation, Mutual Masturbation, Plot Twists, Polyamory, Sex, Sexism, Soulmates, Threesome, Threesome - F/M/M, alcohol consumption, alternative universe, but also gay stuff too, mentions of abuse, old-timey au, soul marks, soulmate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-05-26 02:06:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 32,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14990420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticMoonhigh/pseuds/MysticMoonhigh
Summary: “What the fuck?” The other man questioned, pulling back. His eyes were filled with a thousand different emotions as his eyebrows pulled together. Peter could feel a ghost of Wade’s emotions (because that’s who this must be), and he knew that the bond had been made. They were connected. They were-“You’re supposed to be dead.” Peter’s eyes filled with tears, his voice cracking on that last syllable.~~~Peter Parker and Wade Wilson, finding Vanessa dead and having never met, assume the second body is their other soulmate. When they meet in a market ten years later, they both have a chance they never thought they would get again-- a chance at love.But can they find a way to be happy as two thirds of a whole?





	1. Chapter One-Present

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so. This fic could potentially be triggering-- I just flat out used 'choose not to use archive warnings' because of that. Just to be on the safe side. I *believe* all of the triggers are in the tags, however.  
> This fic really was a labor of love for me. I am very very proud of how it turned out and it's a story that I think deserves to be told. I started it two years ago and ended up continuing recently after my original inspiration struck again. THis fic is completely finished, and will be updating semi-frequently until all of it is posted. I know this is a bit unusual as far as fic goes, especially with the third character in the threesome being female, but yeah. Anyways, please enjoy ^_^.

_ Present Day  _

It had been ten years since the last time he set foot in this market. 

The smell of the fish and exotic spices wafted through the air, filling him to the brim with memories. This place had kept its smell. After all of those years, that was one thing that had remained the same. 

Of course, most things had changed in some way or another. This was the town that Peter grew up in. It wasn’t going to remain stagnant while he was off finding himself. 

Especially not when it had taken him ten years to return.

The old man who ran the flower shop had passed away. His daughter, a bright girl with blonde hair and a gap between her teeth, had taken over. Her eyes were drawn with a hint of sadness that let him know that her father’s ghost was still haunting her memories. The woman who sold spices expanded her shop to a second booth. The fortune teller, whom Peter personally knew to be a fraud, had been diminished to a beggar, shaking a tin cup with frail hands on a patch of empty ground. The book booth had lowered prices, and the man who sold hay had gone bald in patches.

Peter listened to the clank of his coins as he dropped part of what little he had into the fortune teller’s cup. He didn’t look him in the eyes. He couldn’t really look any of them in the eyes. It had been both too long and too soon since he had been here, with these people who now looked at him as a stranger. Some had remembrance flickering in their expressions, but they kept it to themselves. 

He almost regretted leaving, but there was honestly nothing else he could have done. Even though they had only been together a few days, every breath he took here, every step his feet sank into the ground, reminded him so plainly of her. He had already been so deeply in love… 

His soul mate mark ached with a burning remembrance. He stopped, his breath slowing as he closed his eyes. He needed a moment to deal with the reality that was weighing on him. 

He had lost both of them- Vanessa, after only a few weeks of knowing her. The other? Well… He’d never even gotten to  _ meet _ him. 

His soulmate mark was tingling with energy in a way that it hadn’t for years. He could practically feel the magic that had tied him and Vanessa together dancing along his skin, taking root in his soul and making a home in his weary bones. It was like a song he thought he’d never get to hear again. And it just felt so damn real, but he’d seen it himself, he’d seen-

Peter’s world had narrowed down to just his own self. The noise of the market, the bartering and explaining and arguing faded away to a dull roar as he heard his own breathing quicken. It just felt so damn real. The tingling, the soul-deep connection. 

He looked to his left and then to his right, clutching his arm tightly in his other hand. He shook his head, forcing himself back to reality as he stared at the barren red earth of the walkway. He had to pull it together! It had been ten damn years. He couldn’t mourn her loss for the rest of his life. He couldn’t mourn  _ their _ loss for the rest of-

A man in a cloak bumped against him, and the tingling flared. Peter’s entire world narrowed down even further, until all he knew was that moment was magic along his skin as he blindly reached out and grabbed the other man’s wrist. He could feel tension thick in the air between, and a tugging at his soul. He didn’t think. He couldn’t have let go even if he wanted to. He turned towards the cloaked man. 

A scarred face, covered in shadow. An average nose, a  _ re- _ markable jawline, completely hairless. Smile lines, with dark bags under his eyes. His  _ eyes _ , which were as blue as the sky itself, as blue as the ocean, and Peter found his own locked just like they were with Vanessa’s eyes ten years ago in this same damn market, with his soul mark buzzing just like it was now, and he  _ knew _ beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’d been wrong, wrong,  _ wrong _ . 

“What the  _ fuck _ ?” The other man questioned, pulling back. His eyes were filled with a thousand different emotions as his eyebrows pulled together. Peter could feel his own emotions mirrored back. Peter could feel a ghost of  _ Wade’s  _ emotions (because that’s who this  _ must _ be), and he knew that the bond had been made. They were connected. They were-

“You’re  _ supposed to be dead _ .” Peter’s eyes filled with tears, his voice cracking on that last syllable. 

Suddenly, he couldn’t feel his body. His hand, without his permission, slipped away from Wade’s wrist to fall back to his side.

Suddenly, the way the world had widened to include Wade snapped away as Peter forced the bond temporarily closed. He turned, in the middle of the square, and he began to run. He didn’t know where he was running to, but he knew he had to get away. A ghost was standing in front of him. A dead man walking.

And it was too good and too bad and too  _ confusing _ to be true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a roleplay group that plays marvel characters over kik if anyone wants to join! We already have a Wade (me), Peter, Loki, Bucky, Steve, Tony and Clint, but we're looking for any other marvel characters. We're ALSO looking for a dungeon master for dnd, none of us have played before but we're all wanting to learn and play as a group ^_^. If you're interested in either, shoot me a message on kik at MysticMonarch.   
> Also, PLEASE comment and kudos!!!


	2. Chapter 2-Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update! This is because the first chapter was so short. The first bunch of chapters in this fic are a little short, so I might do double updates for a little while until we get to the longer chapters. Every other chapter will alternate between the present and the past, so yeah. Enjoy!

_ Ten Years Ago _

She was beautiful. She was everything that Peter could have hoped for; tall, elegant, black hair and lovely lips just the right shade of pink. He looked into her chocolate brown eyes, and his entire brain turned to mush.

When she spoke, her voice was breathy and excited, her eyes alight with immediate understanding. “You must be-!”

A rope. A rope leading from his very soul to hers was pulling them closer and closer. Peter had never before felt the pull of his soulmate so strongly, and he knew that she was standing right in front of him. He’d been feeling the pull all through the market today, getting more and more fiery and intense as they drew closer. It was a pleasant ache. Something he wanted to feel every day. 

Something that he had thought he would get to feel every day for the rest of his life. 

Peter, not even thinking, immediately began to undo the buttons on his shirt. A mother, ushering her young children through the market, prudishly covered their eyes as Peter pulled his shirt down over his shoulder, exposing his soul mark. Her eyes drifted down his arms, the lean muscle he had already began to accumulate, and her eyebrow quirked upwards. 

A few more people turned towards them, and Peter felt his face redden. Okay, so maybe practically taking his shirt off was a  _ little _ overzealous. What would she think of him now, standing practically half-naked in the middle of the square, unable to formulate a response to her question?

“Is that a proposition?” She asked, eyes roaming hungrily over his chest. Peter’s reddened face got even redder. “How old are you, anyways?”

Peter’s spider, a large circle on his arm that was intersected by two smaller circles (indicating the primary marks his soulmates would have) to the right, was quickly covered back up. This woman-this gorgeous,  _ beautiful _ woman, could stare all she wanted. But the other people in the square were taking notice. The other people in the square were giggling at the fact that Peter, like the  _ massive fucking dork _ that he was, had just immediately taken off his clothes instead of speaking to her. Like a normal human being would have. 

He did up the buttons, glaring at the gaggle of girls he’d gone to school with (Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy, who never had to deal with this, as they found out they were  _ each other’s _ soul mates on the first day of kindergarten) before turning back to his soul mate. 

Chocolate brown eyes, beautiful flowing black locks, kindness in her voice,  _ one of his missing pieces _ . He’d never felt so full of love and joy. 

“I’m, uh…. I’m twenty-two.” He admitted sheepishly, and stuck out his hand. An air of awkwardness swept over his body. Fuck. 

_ ‘I’m, uh, twenty two’ _ was not a great choice for some of the first words towards a woman he knew he was going to be spending the rest of his life with. And a handshake wasn’t exactly suave, either. But she reached out, her hand warm and soft as it met his, and easily slid her fingers right where it felt like they belonged; between his own. He blinked down at their interlocked hands as she stepped a little closer. It was the perfect move to make him feel better. 

She was wearing a red jacket and a small miniskirt with tights covering her legs. Upon her feet were thick boots, clearly the skin of some great beast. Peter wondered if she had slain it herself. 

“Huh.” She said, looking him up and down. “You’re younger than both of us. I’m twenty-six.” She informed him. He processed that slowly, unable to contain the joy that came from that statement. 

“Both of us?” He repeated, in a haze. Had she already found their other soulmate?! He was almost dizzy at the idea of getting to meet both of his soulmates at once, so quickly. 

Her face fell a little, before she regained her cheery demeanor. 

“He’s fighting in the war right now, but yeah, two of us. He’s twenty-seven, and his name is Wade. He’s the unicorn on your mark.” She informed Peter, gesturing towards his shoulder. Peter’s face turned red yet again. He really didn’t mean to immediately rip off half his shirt. It just… Happened? He was too awkward to function in high-pressure situations. 

“Oh.” Peter said. 

He didn’t…. He didn’t exactly approve of the war. It was waged over which kingdom had access to one of the nearby rivers, and he thought that it was a little bit useless over all. It was a resource that could easily be shared, since neither kingdom planned to fish, but only collect water for their farmers. He thought the loss of life involved was pointless and barbaric, but… 

Well, that was something that could be discussed at another time. With Wade. Wade, who he was sure he’d love just as much as he already adored Vanessa. 

He’d had suspicions that one of his soul mates was a man for awhile now, but he hadn’t been certain. After all, he did like men and women alike. But there had been just as good of a chance that both of his partners were female (or, both male).

“I’m Vanessa, by the way.” She said. Her eyes sparkled with mischief, and he was suddenly reminded of the panther on his arm. It was definitely a suitable animal for her representation. 

“Peter.” He said, suddenly aware of the fact that they were still shaking hands. He looked down to where they were touching and looked back up to Vanessa, who was smiling at him like he was the  _ cutest _ little kitten in the world. And Peter definitely wanted to go home with her. 

“ _ Peter _ .” She said, like she was trying it out. He loved the way it sounded. Her voice was like milk and honey. “Cool. So, I just recently moved here, been living about two hours into the forest for a few months, and I’ve been meaning to get some company to my house for the longest time.” She said, casually. Peter immediately felt his skin prickle and heat flushed down through his body, pooling in his stomach. Her voice was…  _ suggestive _ . “Do you wanna come over tonight?”

“I’d like that, yeah.” He confirmed, trying to ignore the way his voice came out half an octave higher than usual. “If you’d wanna have me. But I should probably tell my aunt, she’s a worrier.”

“You live with her?” Vanessa asked, a genuine question. Peter nodded, turning back towards the corner booth. It was just a couple of blocks away, he could be back to Vanessa in just a couple of minutes. 

“Yeah, she’s only a couple minutes away. I’ll be right back.” He said, stepping away. His heart gave a throb of protest as he removed his hand, and he could  _ feel  _ Vanessa’s disappointment through the bond they now shared. He could tell that it was there. He could  _ feel parts of what she felt _ , and it was incredible. 

Her hand tugged at his wrist, and he turned back to her. 

“Why don’t you take a couple of hours and pack up everything you need to stay the week? I’ll grab some extra food and get the carriage ready in the meantime. You’ll be allowed to leave and come back earlier than that, if you’d like, but. Well, I get a little bit lonely without Wade here. I could use company.” She suggested. Peter thought for a moment. 

Well, she  _ was _ his soulmate. There wasn’t much that could go wrong, and if it did, he could always walk back to his village. He nodded at her, almost oozing anticipation now. He would get to spend the next week with one of the loves of his life. 

“Of course.” He said, smiling widely. “ _ Vanessa _ , I’d love that. I’ll go and get everything right now.”

Suddenly, Vanessa’s bright eyes flickered down to his lips. He could feel her intentions, and he couldn’t help but squirm under her gaze. It had been years since he’d kissed anyone, and he was certain that she’d sense his lack of experience. 

She leaned forward and pressed their lips together, and all of his worries seemed to melt away. Her lips against his just felt too fucking  _ right _ for anything to be wrong. He closed his eyes and leaned into the touch, letting out a small groan against her. Her arm snaked around his waist and she pulled his body closer to hers. Peter felt himself heating up. 

He pulled away, sharply gasping in a breath of air. He’d forgotten to breathe. Her own eyes were glassy with thinly veiled lust, and her lips pursed, as though she wanted more. More that she knew she couldn’t have, not quite yet, not in the square. “I’ll show you my mark later, if you want. It’s on my upper thigh. A little too high for public, unless you’re looking for attention.”

“I’d like to see it.” Peter confirmed, blinking himself out of his daze. Vanessa let him go, her arm leaving his waist. He spared one last longing glance at her, wishing with all of his heart that he didn’t have to leave, even for a moment. Vanessa smiled, looking endeared.

“Good. Later. Now, go to your aunt.” Vanessa said, gesturing towards the street with a jerky nod. Peter immediately spun on his heels, jogging towards his aunt’s house. He couldn’t wait. 

Vanessa was everything that he had dreamed about. Vanessa was going to be his soulmate, until the end of eternity. He could feel that they were going to click into place, like two puzzle pieces that were always meant to find each other. 

He ran to aunt May. He wanted to tell her the good news. 

And then? Then… He wanted to go and get some quality time with Vanessa. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So, I mentioned in the first chapter that this fic is already finished and it's just posting now. I actually do have a ko-fi account, [which you can donate to here](http://ko-fi.com/mysticmoonhigh), and if you do donate wanna drop your email, url or some other contact info into the donation I'd be happy to share access to the google document the fic is in so you can read it in one go! Obviously though if you don't have the money or just aren't interested, the whole fic will be posted here soon enough ^_^


	3. Chapter 3-Present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a bit since I updated lol, I have not gotten to stop for two days straight.

_Present Day_

Wade watched in utter silence as Peter ran away from him. He was frozen, frozen on the spot.

The seconds seemed to tick by as Peter got further and further away, moved into the distance of the marketplace. Bodies crossed his path, and suddenly, Wade could no longer see him.

His soulmate. The second half of his everything, who he’d thought to be gone all of these years. The boy who had now, like the phoenix, risen from the ashes and stood, living and breathing, in front of him.

Slowly, his brain caught up with him, and his muscles began to respond. It felt like he was running in slow motion, but he knew that he had to have been running faster than he ever had before. His legs pumped as the noise of the crowd faded to a background hum. He ran after Peter, legs pumping, arms swinging to increase his momentum.

Peter ran into the stables. Wade could barely see him disappear, but he knew what Peter was doing, and he knew where Peter was going. Wade kept running, eyes on nothing but the door.

And when Peter emerged, a white horse under him, Wade didn’t stop. The horse reared up towards the heavens before landing on its feet and running forward, galloping towards the forest and away from Wade.

This was his second chance. This was the only other chance that he would have at getting a life with a soulmate. He craved that. He wanted someone to hold and to hold him through the night, and looking into Peter’s eyes, he had felt certain that they could make it work. He would have someone again.

Someone to lessen the pain. Someone who Wade could love. For the first time since Vanessa.

He ran into the stables and looked around frantically, eyes scanning every corner for his own chestnut beauty. As soon as he found her he skidded to a halt outside her stall door. (Or, well, he tried. He slipped on some hay and just about broke his hip first, but the inclusion of that detail would make the story less dramatic).

As soon as he had hopped on Chestnut, he rode.

A little slower than Peter, though.

While he wouldn’t let Peter slip through his fingers without a fight, he also felt certain that Peter wouldn’t ride forever. He would be there, waiting for him, when he arrived.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment/kudos?


	4. Chapter Four-Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter was ridiculously short lol, so another double update today.  
> I know there isn't a whole lot of spideypool in this yet-- believe me, we'll get there!

_ Ten Years Ago _

Vanessa was quiet for the first part of their trip. 

Peter and her sat in the wagon with the goods. The wagon was attached to two horses, a chestnut and a white stallion. Both were very young, which let Peter know that Vanessa was likely not in want of much. They had two large boxes filled with food, flour and eggs and fresh vegetables and canned vegetables, and he couldn’t quite bring himself to look at Vanessa. 

He was nervous. She hadn’t spoken in awhile, and while he could occasionally feel her eyes roam over him, he worried that she might have been… unimpressed. Not every girl liked his lithe structure. Some prefered men with a little more muscle. And while Peter  _ was _ strong, well… He didn’t exactly look like a bodybuilder. 

And, he’d already shown her how  _ painfully _ awkward he could be. Within the first thirty seconds of meeting her. 

“So, what do you do for a living?” Peter finally asked. The crunch of the leaves under the horse’s hooves seemed all the more pronounced as she looked at him from the corner of her eye, carefully reading him. He smiled awkwardly under her careful gaze. 

“I used to be a prostitute.” She informed him. 

Peter’s jaw dropped and he forgot that he was staring. He looked her up and down again, aware of her eyes on him the entire time. He met them again, and he tried to hide his surprise this time. “Okay. I mean, I wouldn’t have expected it, but, uh… As long as you’ve been to a healer.”

“As long as I’ve been to a healer, what, you’d be okay with fucking me?” She posed the question a little crudely. But she didn’t give him any time to respond before she raised her eyebrow pensively, and expanded upon her thought. “Oh, so you’re assuming now that just because I’m an ex-prostitute we’re going to have sex right away?” 

Peter immediately felt shame and embarrassment flush through him. 

Oh, fuck. He hadn’t meant it like that! He just knew of some of the diseases that could be gotten from brothel work were fairly nasty, and he didn’t want her to be suffering. And, when they  _ eventually _ had sex, he didn’t want to-- But okay, yeah, he had to admit that he was a little bit thinking they were going to have sex. God, he was such an idiot. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want you to be sick, and, and… I thought most soul mates did have sex pretty quickly, yeah, if that’s something that both of them are interested in. But of course I don’t expect you to, not ever if you don’t want- I mean, I would be okay with-”

Vanessa’s inquisitive look got more and more amused as Peter started talking, before she finally crumbled. Her face morphed into a painting of joy as she laughed into the trees. “Ha! I was just messing with you. I  _ do _ plan to fuck your brains out, assuming you want to.”

Peter immediately sighed, sinking into his seat, relief winning out over the flush of want at her words. Even though he felt a little bit haughty with Vanessa for tricking him like that, he had to admit that it was a little amusing. And, it had managed to break the ice between them a  _ lot _ better than ripping off half his shirt had. 

But, uh… Okay. Now he was a little horny. 

But he was sure he would be seeking relief any time soon. He wouldn’t be comfortable enough with her to be intimate on the first night, that he knew. He was a little bit apprehensive when it came to physical love. As much as it pained him to admit, he was, in fact, a massive fucking virgin. Oh, he could hear the mockery now. 

But he wanted to give his virginity to one, (or both) of his soulmates. He didn’t want to have shallow, meaningless sex. And even if it was with someone he loved temporarily, he just… He was just nervous about it. 

He wanted it, though. And Vanessa was, as far as he could tell, the perfect candidate. 

After they’d gotten to know each other a little better, that is. 

“Yeah, maybe.” He agreed, trying not to blush. He was failing. He could feel his cheeks burning the same red color of the leaves. “Okay, then. So you used to be a prostitute. Why the change?”

“It was a thankless job. Not that I didn’t like it, and not that I didn’t feel good about it. I just wanted a change. It brought home the bacon. Or, well, it used to. The bacon now is already brought, so I retired. I’m writing erotic poetry in the meantime.”

“Could I read some of it?” Peter questioned, curiosity burning. He cleared his throat and fought against getting embarrassed as she pursed her lips, looking him up and down. He wondered if he should have waited to ask; it did sound  _ sorta _ intimate. 

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, Vanessa leaned over and grabbed a small book that had been wedged between two rails of their cart. The wind whipped Vanessa’s hair suddenly back, and a chill went through Peter’s body. He glanced up at the sky, wondering if it was going to rain. 

The book was in his hands. It had a worn leather cover, and he could tell by the buoyancy the pages seemed to have that it had been opened quite a bit. He looked down at the faded brown cover, running his fingers reverently over the cracked leather. He tilted it to the side, looking at it from every possible angle. 

“Is this about you and him? Wade, that is.” Peter asked. Nerves churned in his stomach as he thought through what could be held within this book. Without his permission, his slightly trembling hands pulled the cord holding it closed over the button and opened it up to the first page. 

“Some of them. Some of them are about past customers from when I worked in the brothel. It’s a mixture of everything, really. You’ll be able to tell which ones are about Wade.”

“How?” Peter asked, practically breathless with anticipation as he turned to the first page. 

“Wade stole my book while I was sleeping one night and drew pictures of multicolored dicks on the ones he knew were about him.” Vanessa said, rolling her eyes. A little smile upturned her mouth, though. 

“Isn’t that kinda rude?”

“Wade’s kinda rude.” She agreed, shrugging. “He never does anything too disruptive, though. Unless he doesn’t like you, or doesn’t know you. He has issues with boundaries, but… He tries his hardest. It never bothers me.”

“Oh.” Peter said, nodding a little. He paged through the book. Vanessa’s handwriting was something truly beautiful. Her letters had arches and swirls and everything curved to a great crescendo, a high work of art. It was some of the most beautiful script he’d ever seen. Drawn beside it, in bright purple wax, was an anatomically correct picture of an ejaculating dick. “Lovely.”

The words on the page were vibrant. 

_ You make a home in my heart _

_ Burn through, my love, our physical art _

_ You hear me calling. I haven’t yet spoke. _

_ A passion within me, your desire awoke. _

Peter read and re-read the first stanza. He looked up shyly towards Vanessa, uncertain of what to say. It sounded beautiful. But he didn’t know how to put it into words yet. He looked back down to the page, deciding to read the rest of it. 

_ Your hands on my hips drifting up to my chest, _

_ This feeling inside me gives way to no rest _

_ Just when I feel like I’m high as can get,  _

_ Your love is inside me, sticky and wet. _

Peter’s cheeks blushed hot with embarrassment. He had a mental image now, of Vanessa on top of some mysterious man. He imagined she’d prefer to be in control. She seemed dominating, intoxicating. She seemed… 

A little crude, and yet… Still soft. Still vibrant. Still beautiful. Peter felt a warm glow begin in his chest as he pushed the journal back to Vanessa, trying to ignore the fact that he was developing half a hard-on. 

“I want to read more later.” He promised, hoping that she would understand. Vanessa looked a little disappointed if you asked him, but her face was mostly blank, so he couldn’t be sure. That was another thing about her he’d have to get used to; he could seldom tell what she was thinking, even with their soulmate connection. She seemed sorta closed off, and it was driving him up the wall in some ways. 

“Okay.” She said. She took the journal out of his hands, and strung the rubber band back around the button before putting it back in between the two wooden boards. 

“Aren’t you worried the pages will get wet if it rains?” He questioned. Vanessa smiled just a little bit. 

“Honey, that’s enchanted leather. The book is virtually indestructible. And, in fact, if I wanted to, I could peel the dicks right off. I could take the words off the page and replace them with new ones, if I wanted to.”

Peter nodded. He’d heard of such books before, but none had ever made their way all the way to his market. They were made mostly in larger cities rich with culture, where magical practice was passed from generation to generation. 

“That’s useful.” He said, nodding in appreciation. Vanessa nodded a little, looking down at the wood grain of the wagon.

“I’m a natural-born magic user. I made it myself.” She said, softly. As though she was trying not to startle him. 

But started he was. Peter’s eyes widened and he felt his jaw drop open. “You’re a natural-born…?”

“Yup!” She said. Her look was a half-smile, half grimace. She lifted her hand and stared at the open air above it. After a couple of seconds of intense concentration, during which Peter felt as though he had forgotten how to breathe, a small flame erupted into her hands. “I didn’t get to start actually training until about five years ago, but natural-born I am.”

“Whoa.” He said, immediately leaning forward. Her own flame couldn’t hurt her, but it could hurt him. He stayed back, but got as close as he dared. He could feel the warmth radiating off of her palm, and he felt his heart skip a beat. It was beautiful. It was natural. Vanessa was fire itself, a lovely flame wrapped in the body of a girl. “What all have you mastered? Was fire your first spell?”

Vanessa closed her palm, snuffing out the flame with it. “Fire was my first, yeah. I can do basically anything. But water spells don’t work for me, and healing spells aren’t my forte, although I can struggle through if necessary. Plus, I haven’t really been  _ taught _ by anyone with a few exceptions, so I’m a little rusty in a lot of places.”

“That’s still fucking fantastic!” Peter exclaimed, buzzing with excitement. “How long have you known?”

“My whole life, but the point that really solidified it was a trip to the Sangari mountains a couple of years back. After I decided to quit my job in the tavern and run off with Wade, we went on some adventures. Fought some ogres. Traveled around. Forged weapons, met friends, made enemies.” She let him know, shrugging. “And I was backed into a corner, with a panther crawling towards me. We both wanted the meat in my bag. Just as it came at me, fire exploded from my hands, without even saying a word. Wade and I ate panther for a week.” 

Peter sat there, stunned into silence as he took it all in. He knew that she was a badass, but this? This was so much cooler. 

“Without even saying a word?” Peter asked, incredulous. The stronger a spell was, the more words it took to cast. Typically one or two was enough, especially from a seasoned caster (or one with a lot of magical amplifiers) but only natural magic users can cast without saying anything.

“Without a word.” Vanessa confirmed.

“I don’t even know what to say.” Peter announced, looking down at his own hands. They were still soft; he hadn’t done much hard labor in his life. His aunt had worked as a nurse for most of his life, and he’d been free to sell pictures he painted in watered-down pastels. His biggest customer had been Jameson, who owned an art store in one of the larger cities. Apparently, Peter’s work had some degree of talent, because he kept selling. 

That didn’t mean he made much more than pennies, however. He had no real canvases, no real paints. He was imaginative, certainly. And although his true talent lay in alchemy, painting was fun and helped shave off the stress at the end of the day. 

He looked down at his soft artists hands.

Vanessa’s hands, in contrast, were worn and calloused. She had clearly fought great battles, and won. She was draped in confidence, dipped in a fine, crisp layer of self-indulgence. She was seductive, a little crass, a little mysterious. Peter looked down at his hands again, and he tried not to compare them to hers. 

“Have you ever lost a fight?”

“Yeah. But not often. If you lose too many, eventually, you don’t make it out alive.” She reminded him, smirking. She saw the way he was looking at his own hands, and her eyes flickered back and forth between his face and his fingers. “If you want, I can teach you what I know.”

“About… About magic?” Peter questioned, surprise bubbling up to the surface. He didn’t know the first thing about it. 

“If you want, yeah.” Vanessa said, shrugging. “I can feel that you could do it. You aren’t a natural, but you are capable.” 

Peter thought, biting his lip. He didn’t know. Magic could be dangerous if you used it in the wrong situation, or without proper experience. As much as he already trusted Vanessa, she was also self-taught. And missing one big element of safety: healing magic.

“I’ll have to think about it.” He replied, honestly. She nodded her head, accepting his answer for now. 

“If you change your mind, let me know.” She said. She broke her eyes from him, turning halfway in her seat to look at the worn dirt path stretching out behind them. Peter kept looking at her, the chill in the air almost forgotten. 

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to remind himself not to get too overwhelmed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, this fic is completed in a google doc. If you'd like access to the whole thing you can [buy me a ko-fi here](https://ko-fi.com/mysticmoonhigh) and comment with an email, tumblr URL or other identifying information so I can send you a link to it completed.   
> Thank you!


	5. Chapter Five-Present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know these short Peter and Wade scenes are frustrating right now but trust me, there is payoff!

_ Present Day _

It took an hour of riding at a gallop. He could tell that the horse was exhausted, but he could spare no pity now. He felt like he was suffocating. He felt like the walls were closing in on him. He felt like he had died and gone to some kind of crazy fucking purgatory where everything was bad and good and  _ confusing _ and he didn’t know  _ how _ to fucking think. 

He collapsed onto the ground, off of the horse. His leg hit the ground hard, and he knew fresh purple bruises would be blossoming across it soon enough. He closed his eyes and attempted to breathe through the emotional and physical pain as his eyes filled with tears. 

It was blurry when he looked up. 

The house had been restored. The last time he had seen it it had been a pile of still-smoking wood on the ground with their rock walls singed black. The dark smoulder still remained on some of the stones, having seeped in too deep to ever come off. But he could see even through the tears that the pile of ashes had been replaced with logs and lumber and a thatched roof. A chimney cut through it. 

It was just like he remembered it being with Vanessa. Just like it was for those few days she danced in the kitchen, through the living room, seductively pulled him into the bedroom with a king sized bed large enough for three. He didn’t know what to do. 

The green moss was creeping up the side of the house. He blinked the tears away, only to have fresh ones replace them. He saw the stone wall he had helped to build was now completed, encircling the house and leaving only a small pathway into the home. An opening through which he could imagine Vanessa slipping with grace. 

He could also imagine her falling on her ass and glaring at him as he laughed. He wouldn’t have meant to laugh, but her face would have been so damn surprised. And he would have reached down to help her, and she would look all too innocent. As soon as his hand was in hers he knew that she would have pulled him down on top of her and rolled him over into the moss beds. 

They never got to know each other in spring. He never got to see her tend to the pink roses now climbing up the trellis, like he imagined she would have. 

Somehow, Peter ended up on his knees. His head was in his hands, and tears were dripping onto the fertile earth. He was dead to the world around him. He couldn’t hear anything, all he could see was the ghost of Vanessa’s face across this place. 

The sound of another horse trotting in echoed through the forest. Peter sternly ignored it. He ignored it moving closer and closer, and he ignored the shouts of his name bellowed from deep inside someone else’s chest. He couldn’t ignore the pain coming through their newly-formed bond. That was impossible to block out. 

A pair of boots landed on the ground. Peter’s hands moved from his face and he tugged his tattered, dingy red jacket closer to his body, around his shoulders. He could no longer ignore the presence of his other soulmate, another he’d thought to be dead. 

The steps grew closer and closer, and leaned down to pick him up. Peter’s body went numb, limp, in Wade’s arms as Wade picked him up off of the ground. 

They didn’t speak. The warm wind blew, tousling Peter’s hair and caressing his face. Everything smelled like roses, and he would be lying if he said he didn’t like it. 

Wade carried him inside. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave kudos or comments!


	6. Chapter Six-Past

_ Ten Years Ago _

Peter sat at the table in silence. They had just finished unloading the wagon together, all of the groceries in their proper places. Peter was uncertain what to do; his hands itched, and he reached for his bag. Vanessa sat down across from him, her breath leaving her in one long blow. 

He found his book and took it out, laying it gently across the table.

He could feel the heightened interest coming from Vanessa. He could sense her eyes; not on him, but on something far more personal. She looked at the cover of his book, one of the few things he’d taken from his home. 

In this book, he’d done his many drawings. He covered page after page in rich color and firm lines. Painting was a hobby of his too, but what he really loved was working with a pencil or with charcoal. There was nothing better than that. 

He’d heard distant rumors of pencils that had various colors instead of just black or grey, but he had yet to see any for himself. Still, he liked to think that they might exist somewhere. 

“What are you doing?” Vanessa questioned, leaning over as Peter opened the book. The first few pages now almost embarrassed him; he’d gotten much better over the couple of years that he’d had such a journal. He could really capture the beauty of a moment now, in a way that he hadn’t been able to before. 

And his drawing made good practice for the painting. 

Not that that was his main source of income, anyways. He’d gotten a job in the town assisting the alchemists with whatever they needed for the day. They would call him once or twice a week and he would get to watch them make potions and mix powdered chemicals and identify which minerals were which. He was often times just as good as they were at making these observations, but they had yet to hire him on permanently.

Which was fine! Peter would wait his turn. Not to mention that not having a permanent job meant more time for his drawing and painting. 

“I’m about to draw.” Peter said, looking up. Her eyes met his with a kind of fiery interest as she flipped her hair behind her shoulder, immediately sitting up straighter. 

“What are you going to draw?” She questioned. Her thoughts were clear as she sat perfectly still, her hopes etched into her face. Vanessa knew that she was a work of art, and that was one of the things that drew Peter to her so much. He smiled a little, looking down towards his paper and beginning the basic shape of a human head. 

“Stay still.” Peter responded. His hand began to move across the page in small, short strokes to map out her jawline. Long, swirly strokes to capture the wave of her long hair. Strokes closer together and further apart as Vanessa moved only what was necessary. Eventually she began to fidget in her seat, but she stayed calm and patient as Peter traced and re-traced his beginning lines. His eyes kept flickering between her and the paper. 

Peter couldn’t help but feel impressed. Often times his peers or friends of his aunt would ask him to draw them, and they would quickly become impatient. He didn’t get to finish even the outline of those drawings. They would get bored and move on, and Peter would be left with only half a face done and a feeling of unrest left in his chest. 

He finished the lines, and took a long breath. He knew Vanessa wasn’t going to sit there much longer; everyone had their limits, and Vanessa was only human. He sat the book down on the table and she immediately moved out of position, eyes scanning the page. 

“That’s wonderful.” She breathed out, reaching out. Her fingers touched the page, almost as though she was trying to feel her own hair. Peter was a little uncomfortable with someone else’s hands on his work, especially before he had truly finished it, but he could tell that she was being gentle. He trusted her. 

He felt a tug of reassurance through his chest, and he knew that it was the soul bond. He looked down in wonder, as though he would be able to see the invisible line now connecting them. When he looked back up towards Vanessa, her hands were off his drawing. Her eyes were trained on him with one eyebrow raised, and he felt his knees go weak. 

“We should take a break.” He said, trying to get his bearings together. Their bond was weak, flimsy, barely there. But he could feel it, and he tried to send across a trickle of his satisfaction. Vanessa was unable to hold in his impressed smirk, and Peter immediately felt as though he had been praised. She didn’t say it out loud. But Peter didn’t need her to. “I’m not finished yet, but if you sit still for too long, it’ll get super boring for you.”

“Alright.” Vanessa agreed, nodding her head. “I need to cook dinner anyways.” She said, standing up. She grabbed two aprons that were handing on a hook in the kitchen and turned, throwing one at Peter. Peter barely caught it in time, and when he did, he looked at it in awe. “It’s Wade’s. How are you in the kitchen?”

It was a soft pink color, and smooth to the touch. He’d never seen a fabric so rich. It had frills and lace, and it was clearly a beloved artifact. 

“This is…?” He questioned. He lifted it over his head, feeling nervous about wearing something that was clearly expensive and cherished. “I’m, uh… A pretty good cook, if I do say so myself. I can make toast, like, four different ways.” 

Vanessa laughed out loud, smiling widely as she reached into the cabinet to retrieve their satchel of flour. She turned to Peter and smirked. “So, you’ll be fine with making bread, then?”

Peter shrugged. “It’s just unburnt toast. How hard can it be?”

As it turns out, it was very hard. Peter didn’t seem to have the natural knack for cooking that Vanessa did, and she turned out double what he did in half the time. As he glanced down at his pitiful, unkneaded roll next to her large, round masterpiece, he felt an odd sort of humor bubble up inside of him. 

“Oh God, I suck at this.” He said, shaking his head. Vanessa glanced over at his progress and laughed a little, shaking her head. 

“The first time I made bread I swear it actually crawled across the counter. You’re fine.”

“My aunt usually has me do the soup.” He admitted, beginning to knead the bread. Dough stuck to his skin in large clumps, pulling up perfect, rigid peaks along where the dough pulled off. He looked down at his hands and grinned.

“Are you any good at that?” Vanessa asked, sounding genuinely intrigued. 

“I’m decent, yeah.” Peter admitted, shrugging. Vanessa immediately grabbed his dough with her floured-up hands and brought it over into her workspace. 

“There’s some in the cellar, if you need milk.” She informed him, bumping his hip with hers. “I’ll handle the bread. Tonight’s main course is your responsibility.”

Peter immediately walked over to the washing basin and scraped as much of the sticky dough off of his hands as possible. Vanessa quickly worked with his bread, turning it into one of her perfect loaves. 

Thirty minutes later, the soup was simmering, hanging above the fire in the living room’s fireplace in a large, flame-blackened cauldron. Vanessa’s bread was in the smaller kitchen oven, and Peter could smell their combined efforts throughout the house. 

He turned from seasoning his potato and cheddar soup right as Vanessa pulled the bread out of the oven, holding it up triumphantly. Five perfectly-rounded loaves, all beautifully browned on top. “Bread for the week.” 

Vanessa put on hot gloves and put the loaves of bread into the cabinet one by one, shaking the flour out of her hair. She left one loaf out on the table, and smiled invitingly at Peter. 

Peter was suddenly reminded of the fact that this? This was his soulmate. This beautiful, funny, carefree girl was his soulmate. She was difficult to understand, and clearly a little secretive. But Peter would get better, and he would get to know her. 

He could already feel himself falling hard. 

His eyes were glazed over in fondness, and Vanessa could see it from across the room. She smiled and beckoned him over with a wave of her hand, batting her eyelashes. Peter, feeling as though he were in some kind of crazy, perfect dream, got up. He walked across the floor like he was gliding across a cloud, until Vanessa’s body heat was tangible. 

She swept forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her heat against his made every nerve in Peter’s body come alive, and his breath came a little quicker. Her eyes flickered back and forth between his lips before she leaned forward, pulling him into a passionate kiss. 

Peter made a sound in the back of his throat as he moved towards her, his hands drifting down to grab her ass. Vanessa gave a sharp gasp and softly bit his bottom lip as she curled her body around his. As soon as Peter’s mouth had naturally fallen open she pushed her tongue inside, her hand coming up to fist in his hair as he felt his knees go weak. 

He had no clue how long they stood there, kissing and feeling and exploring. But when they finally pulled away, Peter knew what it was like to feel really and truly connected to someone,  _ physically _ , for the first time. He felt their bond grow stronger at their shared intimacy, and he had never felt more satisfied than he did in that moment. 

“Dinner?” Vanessa asked, peeling herself off of his body. Peter nodded his head, still a little dizzy from how much he loved it all. 


	7. Chapter Seven-Present

_ Present Day _

Peter was in a bed. Not the bed that he had shared that night with Vanessa. No, this one was less ornate. Less polished. Rough around the edges, with no headboard to be seen. It was closer to the floor. A little firmer underneath him. 

“You hungry?” A rough voice asked. Peter turned his head to see Wade there, in a rocking chair in the corner. He sat leaning forward, with his hands covering the lower half of his face. 

“I don't think so.” Peter lied. He was starving. But what he wanted more than food right now was to roll back over and pretend that this wasn't happening. It was too confusing, too much. 

And underneath the chaos in his stomach, there was something that he hadn't felt in a long time. Something he didn't want to think of. Something he didn't deserve. 

Hope.

His stomach chose that moment to betray his lie. It let out a great rumble, audible even from where Wade sat, feet away. Wade smiled, and Peter wondered how he managed at a time like this. 

“I’m gonna go get you something to eat.” Wade said, standing up. “And obviously, I’m your tall drink of water.”

He got up, the chair squeaking in protest against the shift in weight. He walked towards the kitchen before stopping, turning and throwing Peter a wink over his shoulder.

Peter couldn't fight the small jolt of happiness.  _ It’s contagious, with Wade _ . That’s what Vanessa had told him. And it was holding true. 

Wade’s head poked back around the doorway. Peter could see the strap of his pink apron draped over his shoulder. “How do you feel about pancakes? I have chocolate chips.”


	8. Chapter Eight-Past

_ Ten Years Ago _

A couple of days had been spent dancing around this. The occasional heated kiss, the longing stares, the  _ think about anything other than her boobs _ . Peter felt comfortable with Vanessa now. He knew her. He could feel the place she inhabited in his soul firmly locked into place, holding onto him, grounding him. 

Now, Vanessa’s body was up against his. Her tongue was snaking out to push against his and her hands were holding fist fulls of his shirt, dragging him as close as possible. Her soft hair was falling around his shoulders as he lifted her onto the counter. Peter felt his cock give an aching throb, coming to full hardness. Vanessa rolled her body against his, and her spread legs meant that she felt his erection right up against her. She broke away with a pleased gasp, pressing her chest up against his. Her pupils were blown wide with lust. 

For the first time, Peter didn't shyly pull away. He gave a small, experimental thrust of his hips. He rubbed against Vanessa, and he could feel her heat through his clothes. 

“Do you want to stop?” Vanessa asked, looking into Peter’s eyes.

“No,” he confessed, grabbing her hips. Vanessa let out another small sound as he brought her closer, giving another, less experimental thrust. 

“Fuck,” she breathed, leaning forward. She kissed along Peter’s jaw before finding his earlobe and delivering a firm nip. “Wanna take this to the bedroom?” 

Another wave of lust crashed over Peter, and his hips gave a thrust without his permission. As soon as he had enough sense to, he nodded his head enthusiastically. Vanessa chuckled in his ear. 

Vanessa wrapped her legs around his hips, using her muscles to hold herself against him. Peter got the new and strengthened his grip on her before backing up. He hoisted her into the air, peaking around her shoulder to see where they were going as he made his way back to their shared bedroom. 

Vanessa dipped down and started to kiss and nip his neck, finding a small patch of skin she liked and sucking on it until Peter was moaning. He imagined the bright red mark forming on his skin as he made it into the bedroom, walking over to the bed and leaning until Vanessa was laying on the bed. Her legs untightened from their position around his waist and he kissed up her neck, landing on her mouth. 

Her tongue eagerly pushed between his lips as she let out a satisfied moan. She pulled away and left a trail of spit between them, her breath causing her chest to rise and fall rapidly as she prepared for what was coming. 

“Wanna help take off my clothes?” Vanessa asked, reaching up to unbutton the top buttons of her flannel. Peter’s eagerly shaking hands replaced her own as he revealed inch after inch of her golden skin, and he pushed the shirt back and over her shoulders. He took a moment to marvel at her breasts, her large, dark nipples punctuating each like a flower in full bloom. 

“You know, you don’t have to just look.”

Peter’s eyes met Vanessa’s, and he felt another flare of lust. His hand rose and wrapped firmly around her breast. He gave a soft squeeze, and she arched her back to push his hand further onto it. 

He could feel the wet, sticky precum beading on his cock. He knew that he wasn’t going to last very long if he kept savoring her body, but he also knew that she wouldn’t mind having to go for round two. “Can I kiss you here?”

Vanessa nodded, too horny to speak. Peter leaned down. The warmth of her skin radiated onto his slightly chapped lips as he hovered over her. He leaned down to press a soft kiss into the skin of her breasts, feeling them jiggle at his touch. He kissed along them, wet, sloppy kisses that left Vanessa’s nipples hard and tempting.

Peter may have been a virgin, but he’d heard things. He’d heard enough to know what Vanessa would likely enjoy. 

He closed one of his lips around her nipple and flicked it with his tongue. He was awarded with a sharp gasp and hands running through his hair, tugging him off and up. Her tongue pushed into his mouth again and all Peter could do was moan and tremble as her tongue took him apart. 

“That,” Vanessa panted, her hands still in his hair, tugging, “was the  _ exact _ right thing to do.”

“I’m not gonna last long.” Peter blurted. His face was already flushed pink, so he hoped that Vanessa couldn’t see his blush. “I mean not that I don’t want to, but because I’m not exactly the most experienced crayon in the box-”

Vanessa used her grip on his hair to pull him down, past her breasts and past her navel. It hurt, but it was also laced with a kind of intense pleasure that Peter couldn’t deny. He moved down her body. “Okay, then. If you wanna make sure I get the most out of this, you should put that tongue of yours to good use.”

Peter could smell her arousal from here. It smelled like heady, tempting candy. He nodded his head, eyes focussed on the faint outline he could see through her tight tights. 

He reached up and grabbed the waistband of her skirt, tights, and underwear. He pulled it all down in one clean sweep. She unknotted her fingers from his hair and helped him, moving her legs out of their coverings. 

Her soul mark was on full display, etched into the top of her thigh like a masterpiece on skin. Peter saw the great, pouncing puma that matched the one on his own mark, mouth open as though ready to attack. He crawled towards her and settled between her legs, which she eagerly spread for him. He blushed as he looked at her swollen, slightly pink labia. 

Vanessa’s breath was coming in small, shallow pants. She had a blush that went through her entire body as she tugged at Peter’s hair. “God, spiderboy, you’re drivin’ me crazy.” 

Peter broke out of his trance and leaned forward to nervously press a kiss to her thigh. He knew the basics of how this was supposed to go. He was supposed to put his tongue inside of her, and she was supposed to love it. But general knowledge and execution were two separate things, and Peter was a little worried his execution wasn’t going to be all that great. 

He shoved that fear to the back of his mind, trusting that he could always get better. He leaned forward and kissed the outside of Vanessa’s labia. They parted just slightly, and he felt her warm, sticky arousal wet his lips. 

Peter tentatively pushed his tongue out between the folds. Vanessa, who had been still in anticipation, let out an enthusiastic moan as he began to tongue-bathe her folds. The taste was salty and bitter, but the  _ noises _ she was making were fucking divine. 

Peter finally pushed his tongue into her entrance, finding it hot and tight. Vanessa yanked his hair and Peter pulled away, panting, her slick covering his chin.

“That was a nice warm-up, but you should lick my clit.” She commanded, spreading her legs wider. Peter immediately leaned back down. He knew what this meant. He couldn’t wait to hear the sounds she’d make. 

He bent back down and immediately located her clit. It was small and a rosy pink, hard from arousal. Peter leaned back down and pushed some of Vanessa’s wet up over her nub before he began to tongue-bathe it, licking over and over and over. 

Vanessa moaned and wailed and bucked up into his mouth, her hands in his hair always giving him some of that delicious grounding. Peter licked faster and faster. He could tell that her body was heating up, and he wanted this to be damned good. His cock was throbbing. 

“Fuck, Peter. So good. Fucking  _ intense _ .” She said. “Faster.”

Peter listened, licking her clit a faster. He applied a little more pressure with his tongue, loving the way Vanessa’s thighs quaked with pleasure. Her entire body was burning like a star that had just collapsed in on itself, and she was  _ ready to explode _ . 

Her sounds became louder, her noises more and more desperate as Peter kept up his steady pace on her pussy. He felt proud, and humbled that he could have such an effect on someone so beautiful. Vanessa kept getting higher, kept trembling harder, until-

“Fuck me!” She shouted. Peter pulled off of her clit with some reluctance. But he knew that what was to come was going to be just as good. 

He crawled up towards her, briefly sitting up to unbutton his pants and pull them down. Vanessa’s eyes were trained on his throbbing cock, and he blushed heavily. She didn’t seem to mind his embarrassment, simply biting her lip as her eyes flashed up to his. 

“You gonna put it inside of just stare?”

Peter fell down, his hands handing on either side of her head. Vanessa smirked, eyes hooded as she spread her legs for Peter. He shifted forward, feeling the warmth radiating off of her pussy before shifting his hips forward. She was warm and slick against the head of his cock and he groaned at the feeling. 

Vanessa leaned forward and kissed him, tasting herself on his lips. Peter’s cock naturally found her entrance and he pushed in, her tongue pressing into his mouth as he pressed into her. He felt her, tight and hot around him, and he kept pushing until all of his shaft was inside of her heat. 

Vanessa was panting into his mouth, her hips making small movements as Peter adjusted to the feeling. He pulled out a little and pushed back in, getting used to it. Fuck, it felt so perfect. 

He thrust again, with a little more ambition this time. He went harder, and Vanessa arched up against him, reaching down with one of her hands to rub her clit. Peter took that as a sign to keep going, as hard as he could. 

Vanessa was shaking and moaning, her pussy clenching around him every few thrusts. Peter had never felt physical pleasure this intense, this deliberate. He knew that no matter how much masturbating he’d done, it never could have prepared him for something like this. He was in heaven. His whole body was experiencing a burning pleasure like he’d never felt before. He’d never known so much  _ pleasure _ could come from his cock. 

Peter was doomed. She thread her fingers through his hair and pulled him down against her neck. He kissed and sucked her skin on instinct and her taste made him fucking  _ throb _ inside of her. He was twitching and practically writhing and it was too slow and not slow enough and fuck fuck fuck-

He came hard, buried inside of her. It was dizzying, and he panted against her neck as his mind swirled around and around in circles, hazy with the lust that she had filled him with and contented with the outcome of their coupling. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Baby fic's first smut!!! Awwww.   
> Please comment/kudos. And if you feel so inclined, [Support Me on Ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/J3J2EW9Y) .


	9. Chapter Nine-Present

_ Present Day _

Peter felt so many things, lying in this bed. He was reminded of Vanessa. 

And strangely, he knew what she would want. He’d always known that she would want him to move on and be happy. It’s why he’d lasted as long as he had, despite the overwhelming grief. 

There was a silence as he stood in the kitchen of the little cottage. The window shone sunlight in in massive beams, broken only by the wooden cross that ran through it and the motes of dust swirling in the air. 

Speaking of dust. 

There was a lot of it. 

And although Peter could see that a lot of the wooden beams had been replaced, some of them were still tinged and blackened by smoke. He could tell the table was new. The brick of the fireplace in the wall had been scrubbed clean. But still, there was dust. Wade had not been here long. 

He mixed a thin batter in a bowl, and poured it into a pan. The pan was then placed onto the top shelf of the “oven”, and Wade added an extra log to make the flames leap higher. Peter saw no firestarter, and he cocked his head to the side. Although he was reluctant to break the silence, there was something that he needed to ask. 

“So… You’re a magician, too?” He asked. Wade looked down, and there was a certain kind of sadness in his eyes. 

“Not by birth. Nessa taught me everything that she knew. It took for-fuckin’ ever, but I had a natural affinity for fire and she liked it hot.” Wade turned to Peter and gave him a little wink. “I mean. Not right there at the end. But.”

Peter flinched and laughed all at once. He didn’t know that was possible. But here he was. 

“I… cannot believe you said that.” He stated, simply. Any longer than ten years would have been too soon, but he had to admit…

“She would have loved that joke.” Wade responded, softly. Remembrance sparkled in his eyes. 

He turned and grabbed the handle of the pan, pulling it out of the oven. He used a long, flat piece of wood to shove under the flat surface and flipped it. The revealed side looked golden-brown, and it smelled  _ fucking delicious _ . His stomach rumbled, suddenly reminding him of how hungry he was. 

It wasn’t long before the thin cake was sat in front of him on a ceramic plate. The plate was painted with small red phalluses and glazed, and Peter smirked. 

“Thank you.” He said. 

Now that the shock and grief were starting to fade, it was being replaced with curiosity and… joy. It was mingled with pain, but it was there. This was… Wade. 

“Here,” Wade said, sliding a glass jar across the counter. “I make a two-week trip north every year no matter where I am to get some of this stuff. It doesn’t matter what kind of AU this is, I’m Canadian enough to want real fucking maple syrup.” He announced. 

Peter’s eyebrows knitted together. He caught the joke, to a certain extent, but he didn’t understand it. 

Then again, Nessa had warned him that Wade didn’t make sense sometimes. It was part of his charm to her, and Peter couldn’t help but wish that she was here to appreciate it. 

Peter picked up the bottle and poured some of it on the fluffy cakes. He cut into it with his fork and brought the massive chunk of steamy goodness to his mouth, not hesitating before he shoved it all in in one foul swoop. 

It tasted absolutely  _ delicious _ . Peter groaned, his eyes rolling back into his head. 

“Oh, my God. She did  _ not _ overestimate your cooking skills.” Peter gushed. 

“So…” Wade said, pouring more of the batter into the pan. “Who do you think the second body was?”

Peter froze. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally we got a little more Peter/Wade interaction LOL. But the Nessa/Peter interactions were really fun to write so I just couldn't stop myself from going into a little bit of depth about their time together.


	10. Chapter Ten-Past

_ Ten Years Ago _

Peter had a pale of water slung around his shoulder. It had been a lovely couple of weeks in bliss with Vanessa. He couldn’t believe how lucky he had gotten. He was going to spend the rest of his life with a beautiful, sexy, articulate woman. 

He’d gone to visit aunt May for the day, but wanted to stop to get a little bit of water before he went home. Their supply was running low. His horse waited for him back on the path. 

And yeah, they argued a little bit. Small scuffles here and there, if either of them were in a bad mood. But it didn’t escalate. It takes two to fight, and neither of them were interested in making a scene. 

Dead leaves and twigs crunched under his feet. Crunch, crunch. He walked a little faster. 

He smelled something in the air that was a little… off. He inhaled deeply, pausing as he looked towards where their little cottage was. 

Smoke. He smelled smoke. 

Maybe Vanessa was cooking dinner?

The smell hit him again, a little bit harder. He could see smoke gathered in the trees in the distance, and his eyebrows furrowed. Normally, it didn’t get that thick when she cooked. He shrugged it off and continued walking towards the cabin, certain that it was a fluke. 

She was probably just making a big meal. Maybe Wade had come home? The thought made his stomach erupt into butterflies. Still, he kept an eye on the grey billows.

But the smoke died down the closer he got to the cottage, the natural unwinding of a fire that’s done its job. The kindling was gone. Whatever had originally fed the fire was gone. 

But as he got closer, he saw it. The ashes on the wind. The smoke-choked trees. What he had seen was only the beginning. He gulped, trying not to panic. 

_ It could be anything. Nessa is probably fine. This doesn’t mean a damn thing. _

They could have had a bonfire. It could have been in another section of the forest. There’s no way Nessa was home. 

But no amount of excuses that he made would change what he would soon see. 

He came over the hill.

Fire had licked up and down inside of their little cottage. A pile of ash was strewn about the front yard. The windows were broken. 

There was a charred skeleton in the living room. 

Peter ran. 

He pulled the still-burning skeleton to his chest. 

He searched for any sign of his connection with Vanessa, blindly. Tears obscured his vision. The bones and ashes burned his hands and he still didn’t put them down. The searing of his flesh was secondary to the storm inside him.

All he could feel was grief. 

He sat there for a long time. He didn’t know how long exactly, but when he got up, the sun was sinking under the horizon and the air had taken on a summers’ chill. He didn’t look up until the sun was setting.

A second skeleton sat there, motionless. It was just as blackened as the first, and just as ash-covered. Peter regarded it with little interest. He had already felt all he had to feel today. 

He knew that it was his second soulmate, Wade. There were two skeletons, and Nessa had written to Wade a couple of days ago asking him to come home. His request wouldn’t be denied; it would fall under the soulmate clause and he would get a week of ‘honeymoon’ time before he would have to go back and fulfill his contract.

He must have finally filled out the paperwork. 

Just in time to get consumed by the flames. 

Peter dragged his feet through the ash. He wondered which parts of them were Nessa, and which parts were the house that had already begun to feel like home. He knew he was burning through his shoes, through his pants. He was probably going to have second-degree burns to his ankles, to match the ones on his arms. 

He had a feeling that those scars were never going to heal. And he honestly didn’t care. 

He walked back to his horse. Night was descending, and he needed someplace safe to sleep. He would travel back to the village. He would see his aunt, make a visit to the town doctor so these wouldn’t get infected, and then take off. 

He didn’t know where he would go. But he knew that he couldn’t be here anymore. 

He wondered what he had done to deserve this kind of fate. 

The smell of rain in the air barely phased him. When the droplets started falling, dripping off of the trees and into the ground, he couldn’t feel them. When the wind whipped his sopping-wet cloak around his shoulders, he didn’t flinch. 

He was back at May’s doorstep, and he had no clue how he’d gotten there. 

She opened up the door, concern already in her eyes. 

“Peter?” She asked, tentatively. “Aren’t you staying with Vanessa tonight? I’m always happy to have you, but-”

Peter didn’t hear what came next, because his next memory is a wall of black and the sensation of falling. 

He might not have felt the chill of the night, but that didn’t stop it from sinking into his bones. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment/kudos! And it would be EXTRA appreciated if you would [support me on Ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/J3J2EW9Y)!


	11. Chapter Eleven-Present

_ Present Day _

“I don’t know.” Peter said, quietly. “So… You thought I was dead, too?”

“I thought the second one was yours, yeah.” 

“There’s… Some kind of irony in this. I just can’t see it yet.” Peter mumbled, taking another bite of his pancakes. He felt numbness begin to creep up on him again, but he forced it down. No, he’d already been down this path before. He knew that covering it up wouldn’t do any good. 

In fact, he suspected that repression was the very reason why him and Wade didn’t feel each others’ presence for so long. The feeling of emptiness from their connection would have been too much, so they blocked it out.

He just… Also hadn’t quite figured out the healing part yet. 

“Two skeletons in the closet. The closet burned down. The closet was full of our hopes and dreams. Um… Still looking for a punchline.” Wade said. He flipped the second pancake and stuck it back in the brick oven.

“So I guess we just… learn to live with this?” Wade questioned. “Move on, I guess? Feel grateful we found each other?”

Peter’s eyes filled with tears as emotion ran through him. “Y...Yeah. That part hasn’t really sunk in yet.”

He put his fork down. He was about half finished with his meal, but suddenly felt like he couldn’t take another bite. 

Suddenly, all at once, Wade was by his side. There were strong, sure arms wrapping around him and Wade’s face was buried in his hair, and Peter started to shake. He inhaled, deeply, burying his face in Wade’s chest in return. His eyes welled with tears, and his shoulders began to shake. 

Wade.  _ Wade Wade Wade _ . Alive. 

Peter’s arms were around Wade. And then his legs were snaking around Wade’s torso, and Wade was lifting him up with those fucking muscular arms. The next time Peter opened his eyes, Wade was dropping him on the bed, and crawling in on top of him. It had been too long since he’d felt the kind of heat that licked up his skin when Wade’s strong arms wrapped around his body, pulling him closer. 

Wade was a hot wall of muscle that Peter was sure could make him shiver. 

They lay there, pressed together, their bodies half-intertwined as Wade held him close, breathing in his scent. Once Peter realized that this was  _ as far as it was going to go _ , his cock throbbed in disappointment, and he felt his face redden. God, he felt like a pervert. He hoped that Wade didn’t notice. 

“At least take me out to dinner first.” Wade mumbled into his shoulder. Peter could hear the smile in his voice, but it still made him feel a little bit mortified. “Feeling a little pent up now, are we?”

“Yeah.” Peter admitted, forcing himself to relax and be honest with Wade. This was his soulmate. Wade wasn’t going to judge him. “I tried to have sex with a few other people but after Vanessa it just wasn’t the same. I’ve not met anyone who I’ve really been interested in for awhile. So admittedly, I guess you could say I’m a little pent up.”

Wade pulled away, eyebrows furrowing. “Oh, my Gosh. That’s like… the exact opposite of me and Nessa. You do know that she-”

“Used to be a prostitute?” Peter asked, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, I knew. I didn’t care. Like I said, that’s just me. Other people can do other things. I’m not a prude.”

“Good, because I’ve had quite a few orgies both before and after the tragic death of my young lover.” Wade explained. Somehow, the fact that Wade sounded  _ experienced _ didn’t seem to make Peter any less interested. 

“I honestly would have.” Peter admitted. “But every time I tried it reminded me too much of Nessa. And the pain…”

He trailed off, uncertain of how vulnerable he could be with Wade yet. After all, they had just met only the night before… 

“Yeah, I get it.” Wade said, darkly. He pulled Peter a little tighter, and Peter felt safe pressed against him. Wade took a deep, steadying breath, and Peter got the sense that this was hard for him. “It was… the exact opposite for me. The more I filled my life with orgies and booze, the less I thought about Vanessa. I had to wake up one day and face the facts, though.”

“How’d you do that?” Peter asked, genuinely curious. He… still struggled with it. 

“I came to one day a little more sober than usual. Broke down. Broke a few things.” Wade said, his rough voice showing little emotion. It softened, after that. There was a pause. “I had to let myself feel it. I had pushed down what had happened to her so hard that I didn’t actually deal with any of it.”

Peter hummed, nodding. “That’s… kinda what I’ve been doing. Painting, meditating, traveling the world. Keeping myself busy.”

“Nessa would have loved that.” Wade said, something a little broken in his voice. Peter felt tears well up in his eyes, and he didn’t stop them from flowing. “She always wanted to be painted like a french girl.”

“I’m sure she would have loved that.” Peter agreed. Nessa had acquired a small collection of things from big cities and a couple of far-off places she had traveled. “But all I was doing was running. I guess I came here because… I wanted to stop.”

“I’m glad that you stopped.” Wade said. There was a seriousness to his tone. Peter realized that, had he continued to run, him and Wade might have never found each other. 

“I’m glad you came home.” Peter said, quietly. Not just from the war, but from the alcohol and orgies. Not that those things were always bad; but they didn’t make great coping mechanisms. 

“I am too.” Wade rumbled. 

Suddenly, Peter smelled a distinctive burning smell. Nothing too alarming; but it was obviously food. Smoke began to seep in under their door, and he eyed the slow-moving grey with interest.

“Hey, Wade? What’s that?”

Wade shifted, looking up. There was a moment of silence as they both contemplated what it could possibly be. 

“Ah shit!” Wade shouted, getting up as fast as he could. “I left my pancake in the oven!”

Peter laughed as Wade burst into the kitchen. He could hear Wade mumbling to himself about needing a damn sundial to remind him when to take shit out of the oven, and despite the empty bed, Peter smiled. It was genuine. 

And he was still sad, yeah. 

But he was smiling, too. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the part where you should start paying attention to where in the timeline things happen. The next blast to the past is NOT ten years back!


	12. Chapter Twelve-Past

_ Fifteen Years Ago _

Vanessa was collecting cups and plates at the tavern, her short skirt showing off her ample ass to potential customers. The sound of one of the girls singing in the front and the chatter from the sailors who had docked in the port and come in for a drink made it almost obnoxiously loud, but she was used to it. The flickering candlelight and fireplace across the room illuminated the tavern, showing off drunken men and women alike, sipping ales and hitting each other over the head for fun. 

She scanned the room, looking for him. It was a Friday night, and this was beginning to become a sort of routine. 

“You looking for someone, Princess?”

His breath was like butterscotch whiskey; there was something intoxicating about it, and yet, it was so  _ sweet _ . Vanessa had found herself, as she seldom had during her career in prostitution, actually  _ enjoying _ this man’s company. 

It didn’t hurt that his soulmate (who wasn’t too bad in bed either) liked to join the two of them for the occasional threesome. They paid her extra on those nights.

“Demetrius.” She said, turning around. Her long, black hair fell back over her shoulders, and her painted lips tilted in a smile. “I was expecting you.”

“Have you ever known me to disappoint?” He questioned, seductively. Vanessa rolled her eyes. He was nice, and good in bed. But damn, this man was full of himself. 

And Vanessa would prefer it if  _ she _ were full of him, thank you very much. 

“Oh, I haven’t. But I’m sure there were plenty of girls before you started practicing with righty before every round.” She teased. But she was also  _ pretty _ sure he cranked one out before their sessions for the stamina increase. 

He laughed at her joke, and he shook his head. “C’mon, let’s stop with the jokes. You know that mouth could be put to better use.”

There it was. Vanessa liked him, and she liked sleeping with him. But every once in awhile… Something unsettling happened. He said something that just… rubbed her the wrong way. But she smiled, and her eyes flickered down to his hand, which he had slipped out of his pocket. Two gold pieces, not one. That meant that his wife was already upstairs, and they were going to double her pay if she slept with them both. 

Vanessa felt a shiver make its way down her spine. His wife was very good with her tongue, and Vanessa knew  _ exactly _ what she was in the mood for. 

“Aye aye, Captain.” She teased. She turned and headed up the stairs, moving her ass as to make her skirt bounce up with every step, giving him a nice view of her ass. After all, these were high-paying customers. 

When they were finished, she lay thoroughly satisfied between them. Typically, she’d have to seduce four or five people a night to make as much as they paid her for one threesome. It was absolute paradise. 

The woman, Cherise, snuggled up against her. Her small breasts pressed into Vanessa’s stomach, and Nessa’s arms were wrapped around her neck. She was beautiful. Vanessa did like her an awful lot. 

Demetrius had walked outside to enjoy a cigarette. Cherise didn’t like the smell of them, and he had begrudgingly agreed to take it outside and allow the afterglow to stay an afterglow. 

Vanessa looked down at Cherise’s body; her small, gentle curves and her plume of dark brown hair covering her nethers. She realized something then, and it pinged with her in an odd sort of way. 

“You don’t have a soul mark?” She asked. She’d seen every inch of both of their bodies, but it hadn’t occurred to her until just now. She typically stayed very focussed on the job at hand. 

“We’re strays.” She confirmed, snuggling into Nessa. “We found comfort in each other.”

Nessa nodded. She had heard of that before. Some people had only platonic soulmates, or didn’t have any at all. Some of them got together, creating a soulmate in each other. Others stayed single for their entire adult lives and were perfectly fine with that. 

“That’s interesting.” She remarked. “I’m glad you two found each other.”

“I’m happy we found you.” Cherise responded. She looked nervous; she bit her lip, her hazel eyes flickering up and down, between Vanessa’s eyes and lips. Vanessa allowed it, gave into what she so obviously wanted. She leaned forward and gave Cherise a kiss, long and luxurious, savoring the hot feeling of another person’s tongue in her mouth. 

Had she not been so thoroughly fucked beforehand, she would have been wet from that kiss. 

When they pulled away, Nessa felt another pair of eyes on her. She turned, seeing Demetrius staring at them with wide, wild eyes full of passion. It made her horny on one level, but uncomfortable on another. 

There seemed a little too much passion in his stare. 

“Vanessa,” He said, sweetly. “Can I have a moment with you?”

Vanessa gave Cherise a look of apology as she slipped out from under her, her bare skin rapidly cooling. She grabbed a robe hanging on the wooden coat rack beside the inn door and slipped it over her shoulders as she walked out into the hallway.

Demetrius was looking at her fondly. He closed in on her, his hands falling to her hips as he pressed their bodies together. 

“Come live with us.” He requested, his voice full of promise.

“What?” She demanded, her head rearing back. “Why?”

“Because,” He said, his voice laced with growing excitement. “You’re working here in this dump. You can’t be happy whoring yourself out like this. I’m wealthy, and you’ll never have to work again a day in your life. Besides,” he reasoned, “Cherise and I adore your company.”

Vanessa blinked up at him. He made a couple of compelling points. But if he thought that she didn’t  _ enjoy _ her job, he was wrong. It paid the bills, and she got to have sex for pay. Don’t get her wrong; there were plenty of jackweeds that came in thirty seconds or tried to rough her up, but she’d taken self-defence classes and it was worth it for the occasional mind-blowing sex she got to have. Y’know. For money. 

“Sweetheart.” She said, laughing. “You’ve seen my marks. You know I’m no orphan. Eventually, I’m gonna meet my soulmates, and then I’m gonna live with them. Hell, I might even still work this job, I don’t know.” 

She emphasized. She didn’t want anyone else to take care of her. It was one of the reasons why she was learning a magical trade; no matter where she went, she’d be able to work. Everyone needed fire magicians. It was the most difficult element to tame. 

“But the point is, you aren’t meant to be my soulmate. You shouldn’t treat me like one.” She finished, bravo in her voice.

“Nobody will ever treat you as good as me and Cherise will!” He argued, his eyes shifting back and forth between hers. “Come on, please. Just think about it.”

She thought back to Cherise, and how she absolutely came alive whenever she joined them. That was, admittedly, promising. And she’d heard stories of soulmates getting separated, or one dying, and unmated pairs living happy lives together despite it. She knew that she could be happy with Cherise. 

But she wasn’t sure she wanted to make that commitment. Especially not when she had no reason to believe her soulmates would be any less magnificent. 

“I like to keep my options open.” She promised him. It was just vague enough that it satisfied him, thinking that she would consider their offer. She wasn’t going to, but she would prefer it if they would still come back as customers, so keeping that door open might be the best course of action for now. 

Besides, he probably wouldn’t let it go unless he thought that she had indeed thought it over some. 

“That’s all that I ask.” He confirmed. His face relaxed into something normal, and the conversation shifted. “Oh, by the way. I have a new trinket to show you.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a watch. Silver and gold intertwined along the band, and a small watch spun in the middle with no hands. She knew what it was immediately.

“Is this a spell extender?” She asked, excitedly reaching out for it. He nodded. She grabbed it and pulled it to her chest, and he allowed the chain to slip through his fingers as she oogled. 

“Simplest magic to use. Pricey, but worth it. You just have to specify the measurement of time, and then count. If you want a fire to burn for three weeks, simply cast the spell, take out the piece, say, “A week”, and then count to three.”

“This is some of the most advanced magic there is.” She marveled. She raised an eyebrow, looking up at him. “And how did you get the money for this? Child labor? An animal brothel? Did your polka band make the big time? I’m guessing it’s one of the first two. You look like you’ve fucked a donkey.”

He laughed, but his smile was tight. It always was when she made those jokes. “Do you want to keep it?”

“Keep this?” She questioned, balking. It was worth more than the little house she rented!

“It’ll help you train for your magic. I know you’re interested.” He explained. She nodded eagerly. It was too good a deal to pass up. If she could use this, she could make a lot of money very quickly starting long-lasting fires. “And it can be yours until you make a decision.”

“Yes. Thank you.” She breathed, smiling widely. She immediately looped it over her head, allowing it to fall over her chest. It would look better when she was back in her normal clothes, but unfortunately, she wouldn’t be able to wear it as an accessory. She’d have to tuck it in her shirt. 

Thieves were everywhere.

“You’re welcome.” He said, grinning like a Cheshire cat. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since the chapters are longer now, this might be the last double update!  
> Please consider [Supporting Me on Ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/J3J2EW9Y)  
> also, comment & kudos please!!


	13. Chapter Thirteen-Present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare yourself, this is by far the longest chapter in this fic lol

_ Present Day _

They had spent the day in the gardens planting zucchini, tomatoes, strawberries, and various other fruits and vegetables. Wade had an extensive knowledge of the region’s agriculture, and knew exactly when everything had to be planted. It was hard work; they had joked around and gotten to know each other a little bit in the beginning, but eventually the heat and the labor dampened both of their spirits. 

As hard as it was, now that it was  _ over, _ Peter felt a sense of accomplishment. His muscles ached and his skin was red with the heat of the sun, but the cool night air felt absolutely glorious against his sweaty skin. 

Wade wrinkled his nose at Peter as they sat on the woven rug in front of the living room’s fireplace. It heated the whole house, and as night was falling, it would get a little chilly if they didn’t light a small one. The frosts were over, but it would still be about another week until it was hot enough to sleep the night without one. 

“You need a shower.” Wade complained, selecting a small bunch of kindling from the pile. “And I would know.”

He proceeded to smell his own armpit and make gagging noises, which Peter was admittedly amused by. 

“You would know?” Peter questioned, raising his eyebrows. “The man who  _ invented _ showers probably smelled like you. He needed a solution.”

“Haha.” Wade mocked. “Very funny. Your wit? Unparalleled. But your cheerful disposition? Now that could use some work.”

Peter grinned a little. It stung to hear that. He knew it was a joke, but he didn’t want Wade’s impression of him to be sullied by his lack of cheer right now. Peter was typically happy. He just… He was just now confronting the loss of Vanessa.  _ Really _ confronting it. No longer running. 

And these walls seemed to echo with her voice. 

“Hey, I’m cheerful.” Peter defended. He sat back, leaning on his elbows. “I just haven’t gotten laid in awhile.”

Wade busted out in laughter, clearly impressed with Peter’s joke. Peter honestly thought that he might just be overreacting to the joke to try and encourage more of them from him. He couldn’t blame Wade. He really  _ had _ been down in the dumps the last couple of days. 

“You know, we can change that at any time.” Wade promised. His eyes swept up and down Peter’s body with a kind of unparalleled heat. “Just say the word. I am a gold-class cocksucker.”

“Gold-class, huh?” Peter asked, blushing a bit. “Not enough experience to go for platinum?”

“Right, and what are you? Copper?” Wade questioned. “Wait, no. I have a shittier metal. Nickel.”

“You forget how inexperienced I am. Mine is alluminum foil.” Peter asserted, trying not to be intimidated by how much practice Wade has  _ clearly _ had. He decided to change the topic to something a little bit less sexual. Something that he could weigh in on. “So, what are your hobbies?”

Wade stared at him for a moment, eyes round and searching. “You’re serious? Small talk?”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Peter snarked. “Please, let’s move past that. Outline for me your deepest childhood trauma.”

“Mama sold me to the traveling circus as tiger food. Daddy was the tiger.”

“Dark.” Peter observed. “All that happened to me was my parents dying. And then Nessa. And then my aunt.”

“Oh, you told your  _ real _ serious story.” Wade said. “Didn’t realize we were doing that. But seriously, that, uh… sucks.”

“You?” Peter questioned. Then, after a moment, he tagged on, “What  _ really _ happened, please. If you’re ready to share.”

“I did some time in a very illegal child labor scheme to try and keep myself fed. Worked at a factory attempting to mass-manufacture magical weapons. The kind that can, and  _ should _ , only be forged very carefully, one at a time, by hand.” His tone was dark. Peter turned to him with wide eyes. He didn’t know that that kind of thing existed. “I pissed off one of the bosses pretty quick, and he decided to make an example out of me. Had me test out all of the most dangerous shit they tried to make. Eventually… something went real wrong, and I was scarred. Head to toe.”

“Oh my God.” Peter said. “That sucks. That  _ really _ sucks.”

“It did, yeah.” Wade agreed. “But it also got me out of that life, ironically enough. An old woman took me in. She’d lost her child when he was young. And she sucked, and still sucks, but I love her and I’m the only one that’s allowed to say that.”

Peter shook his head. “Well, I’ll be lucky if I get to meet her one day.”

“She lives a couple of towns over. I go visit her every few months. Every time I expect her to be dead but the fucker is  _ resilient _ .” Wade said, shaking his head. “Pretty sure she’s gonna outlive me. Which sucks, since I  _ am _ in her will.”

Peter hummed, not really knowing how to respond in this situation. Instead of responding with words, as he was prone to do, he leaned over and laid his head on Wade’s shoulder. It had been so long since he’d had physical contact. Especially physical contact with someone who he trusted, admired. 

With someone who he could love. 

It was frightening, the thought. Because he’d lost so much already. So much of his time with Wade. And Vanessa, he’d lost almost  _ all _ of his time with her. He didn’t know if he could handle it, if he let his guard down and let Wade in only to lose him, too. It was something that Peter would have to consider carefully. 

Wade kept throwing little pieces of kindling into the fireplace. 

Peter fell asleep like that, leaning against Wade’s shoulder. 

When he woke the next morning, there was a heavy wool blanket draped over his shoulders and he’d somehow been maneuvered so that he was lying on a very asleep Wade. Peter felt an almost  _ overwhelming _ warmth grow in his chest, threatening to consume him. 

He shot up, blushing as he stood, letting the blanket fall to the ground. Wade stirred beneath him. 

Wade turned over, reaching out for the blanket and pulling it back over him. He was still clearly asleep, but the fire had gone out and the crisp morning air was starting to slink its way into their little cabin. Peter was certain that he would be awake soon. 

“For the last time, Officer, I never met the muffin man.” Wade mumbled. “All I know is that he has  _ real _ nice buns.”

Peter stifle his laughter. He would file that away and use it as blackmail later. 

He made his way over to the kitchen, opening up the nearest cabinet. They were clearly handmade, and almost exact replicas of the ones that had burned down. But Peter knew that they had been gone when he left, so he wasn’t foolish enough to think that these were the very ones. Besides, the  _ contents _ of these cabinets were completely mismanaged. Wade shoved everything everywhere. 

It was almost endearing, when you thought about it. 

“Arrest her,” Wade said, louder. “Icing thief.”

Peter loaded a little bit of kindling into their oven, noticing how their supply was dwindling. He knew it had been a few days since the last rain, and that the rainy season would soon be upon them (assuming the weather hadn’t changed too drastically in the ten years he was gone), and made a mental note to get Wade to collect firewood with him today. 

Aha! He reached into the cabinet triumphantly, bringing out what was surely a bag of oatmeal. It was what Peter had practically  _ lived _ on when he was younger, and it was one of the  _ only _ things that he was certain he knew how to make. 

He prepared two bowls, heating the pot with a small fire and borrowing some water from the large animal skin full of it that Wade had next to the back door. 

When he was finished, he brought it out to Wade. He plopped down on the bench they had in front of the fire (one of the few things Wade had changed; they didn’t have anything here when Peter and Vanessa were staying). 

“Rise and shine, Wade.” He said, using his foot to poke at him. “Or the Muffin Man gets away scot free.”

Wade startled a little, his eyes slowly blinking themselves open as he came back to the world. He looked up towards Peter, and the bowl that Peter was holding down towards him. He reached out slowly, taking it and sitting up with a groan. 

“It’s too  _ early _ to be  _ morning _ .” He groaned, shoveling a bite into his mouth. Peter fought the urge to point out just how stupid it was to say that. He had a sneaking suspicion that Wade knew. Everything the man did seemed to be cloaked in six layers of irony. 

Between scarfing down their breakfast and slowly waking up, they didn’t say much at first. Peter had the feeling that this was going to be out of character for Wade in the future, but he wasn’t going to complain about getting things done quickly. 

“So,” He said, “I think we should get some more firewood today. It’s been a few days since the last rainfall and this is the best time to pick it up. I don’t think we’ll go another couple of days without.”

“I agree.” Wade said. He talked with his mouth still full. “But first, we really do need showers.”

“And how do you propose we do that?” Peter questioned, amused. 

“There’s a waterfall about twenty minutes from here.” Wade informed him, grinning. 

Peter looked up from his almost-empty bowl, surprised and excited. “Really?!”

“Really.” Wade promised, breaking out into a grin. “It’s a gorgeous walk, too.”

“Shouldn’t we just bathe in the stream instead?” Peter questioned. “The walk and the shower is going to take an hour out of the day.” 

Wade shrugged. “We have the hour to give. Trust me, time is cheap around here. That’s how I broke my all-time record for masturbation last week three days in a row.”

Peter  _ almost _ wanted to ask. But he didn’t. He also ignored the burning itch to make a chafing joke. 

Heh. Burn and itch. Chafing.

“Well, if you say so.” He relented. After all, a shower in a nice, cool stream  _ did _ sound pretty good right now. 

“Alright, come on.” Wade said, getting up. He stretched upwards and jogged into the bedroom to grab some blankets to dry off with. 

As soon as they had washed the dishes, they headed off. Peter and Wade walked through the forest, over and under logs, chatting about various aspects of life in the woods. There was some that Peter still had to learn, but he’d gotten most of the essential stuff from growing up on the outskirts of town and his days with Vanessa. 

Finally, they were close enough that Peter could hear the water rushing over the rocks, and birds calling. It was still pretty early in the morning, and Peter knew that the water would be cool. Even though he admittedly hated the cold, it sounded refreshing right about now. 

“Alright, we’re almost there.” Wade announced. “Just over that hill.”

Peter speed-walked up and gazed down; the path downwards was steep, and the dirt that covered the trail was damp with the morning dew. But he saw a gorgeous little waterfall tumbling into a pool of absolutely crystal clear water, and he felt peaceful. 

“This is a  _ great _ place to catch crawdads for a stew.” Wade pointed out. Peter hadn’t even realized that he’d stopped to stare until Wade was overtaking him, passing him and sliding down the mountain with ease. “Of course, you gotta watch out. As with most species of dads, go with them when they say they’re going to the grocery store, or you risk abandonment.”

“Hey,” Peter scolded, mostly joking. “Give them more credit than that. They’ll come up with a more creative lie.”

He put his foot down on the dirt, staring apprehensively at all the trees. It was slow going as he attempted to find his way _ to _ the bottom  _ without _ falling on his. 

It was, however, in vain. He’d turned towards the mountain and was grabbing the branches of immature saplings to help keep him from slipping, but he’d ran out of saplings. He took one more step and slid down the hill, a branch catching his heel and gravity causing him to tumble backwards. Thankfully, Wade was looking out for him. 

Strong arms stopped him from falling. Wade’s arms were wrapped around Peter, holding him bridal style. He pulled Peter close against his chest, his heat radiating into his partner as he grinned. “Is this what you were going for?”

“I was going for a shower.” Peter said. Despite the situation, he found himself unable to be embarrassed in his soulmate’s arms. “But I’m not gonna lie, this isn’t too bad.”

Wade’s smile widened as he practically swelled with pride. He set Peter back down on the ground, and Peter tried to ignore the sense of  _ loss _ that came with his touch fading. Wade was so comforting. 

It hurt to love and be loved again. But Peter almost wanted it to smoulder. 

“Last one in is a rotten egg?” He proposed. Wade’s eyes lit up with the challenge and Peter turned on his heel, sprinting towards the bank. Once there, he paused to slip off his shoes and pull his shirt over his head, letting it fall to the forest floor. After all, it needed washed anyways and they had brought a change of clothes. 

“You totally cheated!” Wade claimed. Peter could hear the pouting in his voice. 

Peter, now shirtless, dropped his hands to his pants and struggled with the buckle. Unfortunately, Wade was wearing pants that were easily slipped off. Peter watched, his competitive streak going haywire as he was, officially, a rotten egg.

“Haha!” Wade shouted, pointing. Peter took a moment to work up his nerve before he slipped his pants and underwear off, stepping out of his clothing. 

He wasn’t laughing then. 

Actually, it made Peter a little bit  _ bashful _ as he walked into the water after Wade, wading in slowly. Wade’s eyes roamed his body like Wade was  _ hungry _ , like Peter was a  _ very _ fine meal. The only reprieve was that Wade had slipped off his underwear, too. 

And with Wade being so unabashed, Peter didn’t even try to hide the fact that he was looking. 

Wade was sizeable. That was undeniable. He was a lot of length and a good taste of girth, and even his cock was ribbed, like the rest of his skin. Peter watched in fascination as Wade’s cock twitched, beginning to slowly rise. 

“Want a view of the other side?” Wade offered, turning around. 

Peter saw his soulmate mark then. 

On his left asscheek. 

He busted out into laughter, happy for the break from the tension. It was a new and foreign feeling to him; he hadn’t had enough sex with Vanessa to ever really get  _ used _ to the feeling beforehand. At least, that’s what he  _ suspected _ that this feeling was. 

“Enjoying the view?” Wade asked, finally. Peter nodded his head yes, grinning at him as he sank down to his knees, trying to get his shoulders used to the cool water  _ before _ he went to stand under the waterfall. He didn’t want to surprise himself with temperature and end up shivering instead of enjoying it. 

“Let’s rinse off now.” Peter proposed, standing now that his skin had been exposed to the cool stream water. Wade waded (heh) out to the waterfall first, walking through it immediately and disappearing back into some hidden alcove. He emerged victoriously with a bar of soap, which he wiggled at Peter, only his hand sticking out of the falls. Peter followed in his footsteps, feeling the crunch of the sand under his feet as he made his way over to Wade. 

He let the refreshing coolness of the water overtake him as he raised his arms, letting it cascade. He could feel it clearing the dirt and sweat from his skin. He hadn’t realized just how dirty he was until he was standing under the spray, and his skin began to feel decently clean. He felt something pressed into his hand-- something slippery-- and he assumed that it was soap. He took it from Wade and began to rub it over his torso, looking down to watch the grime run off of him and into the water below. 

“Having a good time?” Wade asked, shouting over the waterfall. Even with his voice competing to be heard over the crash of the water, Peter could tell there was something in his tone. The same thing that there had that first morning when they’d laid intertwined with each other in the bed. 

Peter let his head fall back out of the waterfall, gave it a few moments to let the water clear before he reopened his eyes. Wade was sitting on a ledge leading into a little alcove; probably where he had kept the soap. 

Peter put his hands on the ledge to either side of him and lifted, jumping up out of the water and landing on the cool stone. He was now completely rinsed, sparkling clean. He was shivering in the cold morning air, but he felt better than he had felt in a long time. 

“So,” Wade said, “What do you think?”

“I think you still need to use the soap.” Peter shouted, shoving it into Wade’s hand. Wade looked at him a little bit offended but clearly more amused before he jumped back into the spray himself. Peter watched as he slowly, methodically, washed every inch of his body, just as he himself had. 

And suddenly, Peter understood what had been in Wade’s voice just moments ago. He understood because it curled up in him in that moment, whispering soft things, of skin and mouths and release. It coiled up like a snake ready to spring and forced Peter’s still-cold body to betray him, his cock somehow still managing to harden. 

It was lust. And Peter felt it now, for Wade. 

And Wade  _ felt it for Peter.  _

He was nervous. He didn’t know how to initiate anything. But he knew that he wanted to try. He knew that he wanted to see Wade cum, and he knew that he wanted Wade’s hands on him in ways he’d been daydreaming about ever since he knew that Wade was a man. He wanted Wade  _ inside _ of him. And he wanted to be inside of Wade, too. 

Wade poked his head out of the waterfall, his hands propping themselves up on the sides as he dragged himself out of it again, bringing himself to sit snug in the alcove. Peter watched in fascination as the drops made their way through the dents and rivets in his skin. Peter wanted to lap up that water. He wanted to make Wade  _ noisy _ . He wanted to make him shiver. 

He had no idea how to do any of that. 

Eventually, Wade noticed that he had been staring. He turned to Peter with curiosity in his eyes, and Peter realized that he’d been looking for too long, and since he was  _ naked _ , he was obviously half-hard. 

Peter looked away, embarrassment making his cheeks burn bright. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his chin. It was delicate, suggestive, not demanding. But Peter couldn’t control the pull that it had for him. He listened to the water falling into the pool below them. 

He turned to face Wade. 

Wade’s eyes were wide, searching. There was something in them that Peter couldn’t quite place his finger on, but it made his skin feel hot even under the cooling water. He was leaning forward, very slowly. His eyes were shutting, water dripping down off of his nose as his lips parted ever so slightly. Like under a spell, Peter’s eyes were shutting, too. 

He was in control of his body, but he wasn’t at the same time. He wanted this so badly. He didn’t know how much he could think. 

Wade’s lips met his, and they tasted like springwater. Peter sucked Wade’s bottom lip into his mouth (a trick he had learned from Vanessa) and bit down softly, eliciting a gasp from him. He felt Wade scoot closer along the rock and Peter involuntarily moaned as Wade’s heat washed over him, radiating, making his heart pound in his chest. 

Wade kissed him harder, and suddenly, there was a hand in his hair. Peter gasped as said hand turned into a fist and  _ tugged _ , pulling his head back. He let it fall back, and let Wade kiss away the droplets of water along his jawline, and then, when he was finished there, along his neck. Wade latched on and began to  _ suck _ , making Peter absolutely  _ throb _ . He didn’t have to look down, didn’t have to open his eyes at  _ all _ to know that he was definitely hard. 

Wade’s hand was working its way down his form, stopping to trail along his abs, and Peter let out a strangled noise. Wade’s lips were back on his in an instant, kissing the very breath from his lungs. 

Wade’s hand drifted lower, lower. 

Until it wrapped around his hard cock. 

Peter felt undeniable pleasure in it; in fact, it was radiating up through him, spiking up and down. He felt like the fire was consuming him, to the point where he was worried about how quickly he might blow his load. 

But there was something else, underneath the arousal. 

An undeniable  _ sadness _ that he just couldn’t seem to shake. 

Peter pulled away. He felt the waterdrops caressing his eyelashes, and he kept his eyes closed for a moment. Wade had gone still, hand unmoving even though it was still wrapped around Peter’s cock. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Wade asked softly. His gravelly voice helped, somewhat. But Peter couldn’t deny what he felt. This just didn’t feel  _ right _ without Vanessa. And it was something that he would work through, something that he  _ intended _ to work through. But it would  _ hurt _ . It would hurt too damn much to let himself have this. 

He flopped back on the rocks, looking up at the ceiling. Wade’s hand moved off of his cock, though he was still hard. Peter just… couldn’t let himself be pleasured by someone else. 

He was  _ exasperated _ with it. He didn’t want it to come to this. He wanted to feel like he had everything under control. He wanted to feel like he had his  _ grief _ under control. But he didn’t. And he couldn’t deny that.

“I just…” He started, not wanting to leave Wade out of this. “I just can’t be touched. Not yet. I still feel too much of her.”

“You know,” Wade said, slowly. “She would want you to have this.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Peter said, shaking his head. “I know her well enough to know that. But I just… can’t move past it.”

“Stuck between a rock and a hard-on, huh?” Wade asked. “Buddy my boy, I know the feeling.”

Peter chuckled, feeling genuine amusement. That helped his frustration, which was boiling inside as he turned to look Wade in the eyes. “I’d  _ love _ to be stuck between a rock and your hard-on.”

“You’re so bad at flirting that it’s good, you know that?” Wade questioned. Peter felt a pang in his heart. He was pretty sure Vanessa had said something similar, once. 

A small silence passed. Peter’s cock didn’t want to soften, and he looked down at it with a frown. Then, an idea hit. 

“You know,” He said, softly. “I think we could both… touch ourselves… if you wanted to.”

Wade turned to him, lust darkening his eyes. 

“I think I could manage that, yeah. I still wanna see you cum.”

Peter felt himself shiver at that. With Wade’s hungry eyes on him, he let his hand trail down to where he wanted it, making his cock twitch. His eyes flickered down to Wade’s cock, which had hardened considerably. He was a bit larger than Peter was, probably only by about an inch. But that made Wade a monstrous seven and a half inches. 

Peter didn’t know how he was going to fit that inside of him, but he was going to try. Eventually. 

“You can touch yourself too.” Peter told him. Wade’s hand wrapped around his own cock and began to stroke, settling a faster pace. Peter found himself matching it as his eyes flickered back and forth between Wade’s cock and his eyes. He felt a deep, yearning need inside of him. 

“Fuck,” Wade breathed, speeding up a bit. It was clear that he was not interested in taking his time right now, but intended to finish quickly. The thought of Wade’s cum splattering over his stomach made the fire in Peter’s loins swell. 

He was no stranger to pleasuring himself. He’d done it plenty along his travels, anywhere it wouldn’t be disrespectful (for example, he abstained from it while he was staying with some Buddhist monks, who had chosen with their soulmates to be celibate). But this wasn’t like a normal, quick jack-off session under the covers in the guest room of whoever had lent him a bed. 

Wade’s eyes were raking up and down him, and Peter could practically feel his phantom touch. There was something about this that was not only sexual, but  _ sensual _ . The feeling of being watched. Peter loved it. 

“Wade.” Peter whined, his hand picking up speed as his cock began to radiate pleasure. “I’m close.” 

Wade groaned, leaning forward. Suddenly, he was warm against Peter’s skin, kissing down his chest. Peter could feel his tongue sucking off little water droplets along the way, and when that hot mouth closed around Peter’s nipple, it was end game. 

Peter came with a cry, his hips thrusting forward as he came across his stomach. Wade groaned a couple of seconds later, and Peter felt something hit his hip. He looked down to see Wade’s cum splattered there, and he was almost rueful that he was going to have to wash it off to get back to their bag. 

“Thank you for that.” Peter said, clearing his throat. “I mean. For respecting my boundaries.”

“That’s what anyone should do.” Wade said, softly. He turned to Peter, emotion in his eyes. “Seriously. Take all the time you need. We have so much time now,” his fingers wrapped themselves around Peter’s, and suddenly, they were holding hands. Peter looked down at the two of them. Intertwined. “Time I never thought that we would have.”

Peter looked back up at Wade, and was overcome with a mixture of happiness and a million other things he couldn’t quite put a finger on. 

But all that really mattered was the happiness, he supposed. 

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to Wade’s one last time, chasing the feeling. The connection. The one that he had blocked out for far too long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments. I didn't get any on the last chapter :/


	14. Chapter Fourteen-Past

_ Thirteen Years Ago _

It had been a couple of years since his proposition. He had still come, dedicatedly, every single week. She had enjoyed his company, as well as his wife’s. Demetrius was a good lover. She just knew that he wasn’t going to make her happy. 

Still, despite not receiving a yes or a no to his proposition, he remained her loyal customer, and continued to bring Cherise for some of the  _ best _ sex that she had ever had in her life. Seriously, they had gotten  _ good _ at it. 

It was a Friday night, his night to come in. But it would be a little bit different, this time around. 

Because she had met Wade. 

Wade, whose scars told the story of a past too painful to bear. Wade, whose eyes sparkled when he flirted with her. Wade, whose arms were warm and whose dick was absolutely  _ unparalleled  _ when it came to both skill  _ and _ stamina. 

Wade, who had a plot of land in the forest for promising to serve a term for the royal army in two years’ time. They were going to build a house on it. And they intended to make it a  _ home _ .

Vanessa was excited. She’d loved hunting when she’d done it with her father, and Wade knew a surprising amount about agriculture. They were going to have a little growing patch and sell the fur from game they hunted for other supplies that they might need. It was going to be a quieter, quainter life for her. She wouldn’t  _ have _ to stay at this dead-end job, worrying about what might happen when she was no longer attractive enough to the clientele. 

She loved her job, don’t get her wrong. But lately there had been some… worries. Older coworkers leaving because their looks were no longer appealing to the men of the tavern.

“Hey there, Beautiful.” Demetrius said, coming up behind her. She felt his hands on her hips and smiled. “Thought about my offer yet?”

He said this to her every time. She always told him ‘not yet’, and they moved on to the business part of the transaction. 

“Yes.” She responded, truthfully. He froze, and turned her around. A grin stretched itself across his face. 

“I knew you’d come to your common sense.” He said, practically glowing. “You’d be insane not to take us up on it. You can come home with us tonight, and we can get you your own-”

“I didn’t say that my  _ answer _ was yes.” She corrected, looking into his eyes. God, he was  _ presumptuous _ . It was almost endearing.. Except, when it wasn’t. “Sorry to get your hopes up, I should have clarified. I’m moving.”

He looked at her like she was broken. The rest of the customers milled around, walking to the left and right of them as Vanessa let him process it. 

“What?” He finally asked, flatly. There was no emotion in it. It was cold. Devoid. She didn’t like the tone. 

“I met someone.” She elaborated. “One of  _ the _ someones. His name is Wade, and we’re moving to the country together. And listen, I know you’ll be worried about me. But he’s a good man. He’s gonna take care of me.”

“I could have taken care of you.” He said. All the emotion his last word lacked seemed to be present in these ones. His tone was icy cold. 

“Yes,” She said, nodding. “But you aren’t going to. Because Wade is my soulmate, and I love him, and you are not my soulmate. And what I feel for you is not love.”

“You fucking whore.” He spat, narrowing his eyes at her. “You tricked us. Me and my wife. We  _ did _ love you.”

“Yes, I  _ am _ a whore.” Vanessa stated. “A whore whose services you  _ bought and paid for _ . I didn’t trick you into anything, and if you fell in love with me it was your own fault. You need to leave.”

He stared her down, his jaw flexing. He wasn’t making a move to go, and she was  _ pissed _ now. Who the hell was he to say she tricked him? He wouldn’t have let her say no! She was afraid that when she did, his business would stop. This was her  _ job _ , and he was her most loyal customer. 

“Tell Cherise I said goodbye. I’ll write her.” She said, deciding to leave herself to avoid conflict. The customers were getting antsy, and half the tavern had heard his last outburst. The other half had caught on that something “good” was happening and were now turning, interested in their private conversation. 

She took a few steps forward, but her wrist was gripped in a death-lock. She turned back, fire in her eyes. She calmed herself as much as she could. God fucking damn it. 

She was too stunned to kick him in the nuts then, like she should have. 

“You’re nothing more than a slut. You think you’re prettier than you are, Princess, and you’re going to pay for this. And you can start,” his hand reached up, and she drew her fist back to punch him. But it was too late. His hand was already clasped around the chain, pulling it out of her shirt. “By giving this back.”

He tore out her spell extender, the one that he had given her. She wanted to argue, but knew there wasn’t anything she could do about it. 

Anything  _ except _ give him the ass-kicking that he deserved. 

She let her raised fist connect with his jaw, and she watched as a bruise bloomed before her eyes. Oooh, that one was gonna hurt. 

“You!” He shouted, in rage. 

It wasn’t long until he was on her, fists flying as he attempted to deal her what she had dealt him. But he was a preppy, arrogant trust-fund baby who had never worked a day in his goddamned  _ life _ , and she had lived on the streets alone as a woman for half of hers. She had self-defense training. And she’d been in her fair share of fights. 

He landed her a split lip, but she dealt him a devastating kick to the nuts and slammed him up against the wall, knocking over a serving tray in the process. It flew from the waitresses’ hands and the glass shattered along the floor, briefly covering up the sound of his gasps of pain. 

“You have no right to treat me like this.” She said. She heard people stand behind her-- most likely about to come to her defense. She put her hand up, signalling them to stop and let her handle it. She heard them sit. After all, she didn’t want him  _ dead _ . “Remember this. It’s an important lesson. You don’t own me, and you never will.”

He glared at her, contempt and pain in his eyes. Her hand around his throat tightened, reminding him who was in control. 

“I’m gonna let go now.” She told him. “And if you know what’s good for you, you’re going to let me. And if I ever see your sorry face again and it is not  _ grovelling at my feet _ begging for my forgiveness, I  _ will _ make sure it’s the last time.”

She let him go, and the rambunctious crowd cheered behind her. She was glad to have given them one last good show before she left for good. The people in that tavern had grown into an almost-family to her, and she was going to miss them. 

She walked into the night air, letting it hit her bare skin. She was used to the cold; you had to be in her line of business. The good news was that Wade was staying at an inn a few blocks away while he was sorting out his last bit of business with the land. 

She walked there, her heels clinking against the sidewalk providing her a rhythm to think to. 

She had thought that Demetrius was better than that. Not that he was good. Never that he was good. But she had expected more from him, and she was sad to see that she had been wrong. She shouldn’t have ignored the warning signs. 

She knocked on Wade’s door, waiting for a few moments. He opened it, confused, but grinned as soon as he saw her. 

“Wade,” She breathed out. Her shoulders sagged, releasing tension that she hadn’t even realized she had before now. He wrapped her in his arms and spun her into the room, the door falling shut behind them as he pressed his forehead to hers. 

“Hello, sugardrop. You look lovely, as always. I see you’ve been out and about, probably drank some poor sucker dry.” He touched her bloodied lip tenderly. “Better be careful doing it in town, a priest might come after you with a stake.”

“He deserved it.” She responded, smiling up at him. He moved his finger and leaned in for a kiss. It stung her lip, but it was worth it. It was  _ so _ worth it. 

“I’m sure he did.” Wade agreed, once she had pulled away. She looked him up and down, and felt lust strike through her hot and heavy. She had been planning on getting laid at work tonight, but that never came. 

Oh, well. She’d prefer this anyway. 

“Why don’t I give you a little treat?” She proposed, pushing him back, closer and closer to the bed. Her hands drifted down to the bottom of his tunic, tugging at it. 

“I’ve been a very good boy.” Wade responded, smugly. She got his shirt off and tossed it on the floor, pushing him down onto the double-wide bed. She crawled on top of him, kissing him chastely before slipping her panties aside and slipping her fingers inside herself, getting herself ready. Wade was  _ big _ , she needed to be nice and relaxed before she could take him. 

Speaking of Wade’s  _ absolutely massive _ cock, it was still in his damn clothes, which was unacceptable. 

“Take yourself out.” She commanded. Wade grinned and reached down, pushing his pants  _ just _ far enough down to free himself. He curved up, seductive and long and  _ ridged _ , and Vanessa just couldn’t wait any longer. 

“Feeling awfully impatient, aren’t we?” He asked. 

He shut up when she slid down onto him, taking him in one swoop. He was filling her up to the brim, so full she might bust, and she  _ loved _ every minute of it. 

“What?” She asked, letting herself adjust to the sweet, sweet stretch of a big cock. “DId I leave you speechless?”

“For once in my life, yes.” He told her. His hands drifted to her hips, holding her over her clothes. She began to move, a couple of slow strokes. 

But she didn’t keep that up for long. 

“Don’t hold back.” She told him. “I’ve got enough adrenaline from that fight to go four rounds.” She teased. 

“I’mma hold you to that.” Wade teased back, bending his knees and getting good friction so that he could pound up into her. 

She was wet and warm and hot around him, and he was filling her up like he was made for it. The wet slap of skin against skin filled the room as Vanessa quickly found herself trembling, Wade’s dick making her feel so full and so  _ right _ . 

“God,” She groaned, picking up the pace. “You’re so good at this.”

“You’ve not seen  _ nothin’ _ yet.” Wade responded, slamming into her harder. She clenched down her muscles, making herself tighter, feeling Wade slide harder against her walls as she put up a little bit more resistance. 

The heat and the sweat and the sounds made for the perfect ambiance as Wade fucked into her and she fucked herself down on him. That was one thing about sex with Wade; it always felt like a team effort, like they were doing it together rather than one person sitting back and letting the other do all the work. Both of them were always active participants. It was an intricate, mind-numbingly hot dance, and they both danced it together. 

He pounded into her harder, harder, faster, until her whole pussy felt nothing but pure  _ good _ . She was moaning, her own lewd noises doing something to her as she thoroughly enjoyed Wade’s dick. As much as she knew that he could do this all night if she wanted him to, she also wanted to cum  _ now _ . And she knew that her orgasm would send him over the edge. 

She stuck two fingers in her mouth, wetting them with her spit. 

As soon as they were out, his mouth was on her, kissing her passionately. He moaned into the kiss and her now-wet fingers worked their way down to her clittoris, rubbing in time with his thrusts. 

She started to twitch around him with every thrust, and he picked up the pace, absolutely  _ drilling _ into her, filling her as fast as she was emptied. She matched his with vigor, her thighs burning as she chased after her orgasm. It didn’t take long before her body seized up and waves of pleasure were crashing over her as she  _ shook _ , her muscles quaking as her orgasm made her whole body  _ throb  _ with pleasure. 

“God, it’s so fucking hot when you cum.” Wade said, still thrusting. She was leaning against him, still relishing the feel of his cock sliding in and out of her now-sensitive pussy. She squeezed her muscles around him, feeling his now-slower thrusts become slightly erratic. 

They picked up as he emptied himself into her, groaning into her neck as he came. 

She felt satisfied. More satisfied than she had in awhile. 

“I’m so glad I got you as a soulmate.” She said, softly. Wade made a contented noise as he slid out of her for the last time, now softening. 

“You can make that a double, compadre.” He said. His arms wrapped around her, holding her closer to him. 

She felt warm. 

She felt safe. 

She felt loved. 

And she loved, in return. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment. I know it's been a week since I updated, I had some real life bullshit that fucked me over.


	15. Chapter Fifteen-Present

_ Present Day _

Wade was staring down a goat with more contemplation than Peter had ever seen. 

“I don’t think it’s that deep.” Peter attempted to reason with him. 

Wade turned back, looking scandalized. “These goats are going to be new members of our family, and we need to treat this process with the utmost respect you uncultured swine.”

“...Right.” Peter agreed, rolling his eyes. Wade turned back to the goat, and it let out a bleat. 

It had been a week since their little adventure behind the waterfall, and Wade and Peter had only grown closer since then. Their days were spent fixing up their little house, talking about the past and learning about each other. They had developed a good repertoire. Peter found that he didn’t just  _ love _ Wade, he really, really liked him. 

And Wade was able to tell him more about Vanessa. 

As much as he missed her, and as much as it hurt to hear these little facts, tidbits, the parts of her that he would never be able to come to love, it was also a little bit cathartic. And he felt closer to her. He knew she was dead, but this made him feel like a little piece of her was still alive. 

Wade had now picked up the goat and was holding it delicately in his arms. The goat was leaning against him lovingly, and Peter had a feeling that this was their new goat. 

Across the yard, there was a mighty belt. The other goats parted like the sea, revealing a ram with horns larger than any that Peter had ever seen. He scratched the ground twice, venom in his stare as he began to  _ run _ at Wade full force. 

His horns connected with Wade’s legs and he froze, absolutely still. 

“Hold this.” Wade asked Peter, handing him the gentle goat. Peter buried his hands in her (oddly soft) fur as he pulled her close, securely holding her against his chest. “Thanks, pal.”

Wade then proceeded to calmly turn towards the offending Ram, and Peter briefly worried that he was going to make a scene by challenging the goat to a fight or something. 

Instead, Wade yoweled like he’d just been shot and dropped to the ground, clutching his legs. The ram trotted over to him and rubbed his horns against Wade, much less violent than he had been just moments before. 

The vendor appeared behind them, unlocking the gate and stepping into the pen. He picked up the Ram and quickly scurried back out, apologizing to Wade profusely. 

“They are  _ not _ supposed to get out like this, I have no clue what happened.” He said. His accent was foreign, and sounded northern. “He keeps getting into the pen with the females and I don’t know how.”

“A ram after my own heart.” Wade supplied, shakily standing. “That’s gonna leave some bruising, kiddos. But at least the only thing he broke was my dignity.”

“Yes, yes, and I’m sure that will recover.” The shopkeeper teased.

“Trust me, he still has enough.” Peter countered, grinning. He had an idea. And he  _ really _ hoped that it would go through as planned. 

“Yes, let me take this one back now. I’ll be right back to process the transaction. I assume you want the female he is holding?”

“Yes.” Wade said, immediately. “I know you’re not gonna understand this because it’s an old-timey AU, but I’m gonna name her Lawnmower.”

The shopkeeper attempted to walk away, but Peter shifted the weight of the goat in his arms and put out his hand.

“Wait!” He said. The shopkeeper turned around. “We’ll take that one, too.”

“Um. Excuse me?” Wade said, blinking. 

“You got to pick the female.” Peter clarified, grinning. “I want to choose the male. Or are we not getting,” He had to think to recall her strange name, “ _ Lawnmower _ here?”

Wade narrowed his eyes. “It’s my money.”

“They’re gonna be my goats too.” Peter countered. “Plus, that coulda happened with ANY of the rams. And look, he looks nice enough now.”

He was rubbing his horns affectionately against the shopkeeper’s face, seeming to emphasize Peter’s point. 

Wade sighed, looking conflicted. Finally, a look of resignation came across his face. He sighed again, heavier, glaring at the ram. “Fine. But I still get to name him.”

Peter grinned widely, looking at the little guy with affection. He was  _ really _ excited to start raising their own little goats and rams, and this one looked perfect for the job. Besides, the comedic value of having that little guy around was too golden to pass up. 

That night, they began building Lawnmower and Future Curry a nice little barn to share.

~~~   

“This was a good idea.” Wade said, looking out the window at the two goats. They were currently secured in a small, makeshift fence while Peter and Wade worked on a miniature barn for them. They seemed to be getting along swell, and with Lawnmower’s age being perfect for breeding, there would likely be a new little goat in the world by next spring. 

Peter held the hot mug of tea delicately in his hands, feeling a similar warmth strike through him. 

“And just think,” Peter reasoned, “Lawnmower is so happy with Future Curry. What if we had gone with a Ram she ended up hating?”

“You’re too much, you know that?” Wade asked, looking at Peter with love in his eyes. It made Peter’s hear do some kind of funny jumps, and he felt an odd kind of determination strike through him. 

He wanted to make love to this man. He wanted to try again. He wanted Wade Wilson. 

“What?” Wade asked, blinking at him. “Do I have something in my teeth?”

Peter bit his lip and set his cup down on the counter, closing the already minimal distance between them. Wade’s eyes lit up as Peter’s hands pressed against his chest. Peter leaned up and closed the distance between their lips, giving Wade a deep kiss. Wade leaned into it, melting. 

They pulled away, but their bodies had drifted even closer as they’d kissed, Wade’s hands drifting down to hold Peter’s ass as he pressed as close as possible. Peter nuzzled into his neck and gave him a few light kisses there, but it was still enough to make Wade shudder. He wanted to suck marks where he kissed, but he was worried about hurting his sensitive scarred skin. 

“Where you tryna take this?” Wade asked, his voice low. Peter sighed.

“The bedroom.” He said, bringing his hands up around Wade’s neck. “I’m gonna jump.”

That was all the warning that Peter gave before he was in the air, wrapping his legs around Wade’s waist, grinding against him hotly as Wade held him up. Wade groaned but recovered fairly quickly, turning and carrying Peter through the kitchen and into their little bedroom. 

Peter was thrown onto the bed, and Wade crawled over him, pressing their bodies together in an intimate embrace. Peter moaned, his hips bucking up against Wade’s as his body went haywire. 

Wade reached down to cup his cock, and suddenly, the sweet touch was all that he could think about. Wade’s hand was pushing down on his cock and creating a glorious friction against his jeans and it was so, so hot and-

_ Vanessa _ . 

Peter’s brain screeched to a halt and tears welled up in his eyes. The last time he’d felt this overwhelmed, excluding the cavern, was with Vanessa. And this was the bed that they had made love in. Maybe not the very bed, because that one was probably burnt to the ground along with-

“I can’t.” Peter said, pushing at Wade’s shoulders. Wade’s eyebrows crinkled together, but he backed off immediately, removing his hand and shifting so that instead of on top of Peter, he was pressed against him. 

“Do… You wanna talk about it?” Wade asked. Emotion welled up in Peter, and he couldn’t keep a tear from running down his face. He felt hollow, empty. Like a cavern made from pain and filled with nothing. 

“The more I let my walls down with you, the closer I feel to Vanessa.” He said, shaking his head. “You know how those soldiers tell the stories of phantom limbs? When they lose an arm or a leg but it’s like they can still feel it sometimes?”

“It’s like that, but with Vanessa.” Wade said, sounding slightly pained. He had guessed exactly what Peter was going to say. Peter looked over to see that there were now tears in Wade’s eyes, too. 

“Yeah, exactly like that.” Peter agreed. “Does… that ever happen to you?”

“Every goddamned day since she’s been gone.” Wade said, his voice low and shaking. Peter felt a wave of sympathy, mixed with surprise. Wade has always put on an awfully brave face, then.

“How do you do it?” Peter asked, softly. 

“Do what?” Wade asked. 

“Everything.” Peter elaborated, feeling his heart ache. “Eat, sleep, rebuild this house. Have sex.”

Peter was so  _ frustrated _ . This hurt, this pain inside of him, was never going to go away. He was always going to miss Vanessa. For the rest of his goddamned  _ life _ , he was going to miss her. She was everything to him. Her and Wade. And in one fowl swoop, the world turned half of everything he loved to ashes. 

How was it god damned fair?

How was he  _ ever _ supposed to get over a wound that just didn’t seem to heal?

He was crying harder now, his shoulders shaking. It felt like he was losing his grip on reality, drowning in grief that threatened to overtake him. 

“Let me let you in on a little secret.” Wade said, his voice just a little bit lighter. It still wasn’t entirely better, but it seemed bittersweet. There was something in it that drew Peter in, beckoned him to listen. He looked into Wade’s sparkling blue eyes and knew that his partner was speaking from the heart. 

“Grief is like a forest fire, and you’re the forest. It takes everything out of you. Your will to live, breathe,  _ everything _ . But eventually, damn near everything the fire can burn is gone. Sometimes,” Wade said, seriously, “You just have to let it burn until it gets there.”

“What if it never completely goes out?” Peter asked.

“You don’t need it to go out.” Wade elaborated. “But once everything is burned, a new forest can grow in those places. Doesn’t mean the old forest is  _ gone _ . There might always be a smouldering pile of ashes some-fuckin place. A little housefire that displaces a family of pissed-off squirrels, in  _ this _ economy.” He was getting off-track, but Peter appreciated that it made him smile despite the seriousness of the situation. “But it gets better. After the fire, it always gets better.”

“I think I know what you mean.” Peter said, softly. 

“Let me know when you’re ready, okay?” Wade asked. “I don’t want to push you until you’re sure.”

“I will.” Peter promised him. 

They were silent, after that, Wade letting Peter cool down while tears continued to trail down his face. Eventually, Peter turned over, and put his head on Wade’s chest. Wade wrapped an arm around him, and Peter melted. 

“I love you.” Wade said, softly. So soft, in fact, that Peter almost missed it. 

“I love you too.” He responded. 

Wade pulled him against him tighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter didn't  
> get your goat  
> hahahahaha please comment


	16. Chapter Sixteen-Past

_ Ten Years Ago _

Vanessa heard a knock on the door. 

She rose from her place at the table, setting her sketching pencils aside. She had been doing a portrait of Wade to show to Peter, wanting him to see his other soulmate. 

She opened the door wide, grinning. Peter had been gone collecting water from the stream (she’s pretty sure, but she didn’t really pay attention to what he said he was doing so she admittedly wasn’t one hundred percent) and she assumed that this was him. She was eager to show him the drawing, even if it was a work in process. 

“Oh!” She said, surprised. It wasn’t Peter standing at the door in front of her. 

It was Cherise. 

She grinned. It had been awhile since she’d heard from Cherise. When she’d sent her last letter a couple years ago, she had told Vanessa that Demetrius had requested that they stop corresponding. Fed her some bullshit about it being “too painful”. Vanessa knew an unhealthy relationship when she saw one, though, and she knew that Demetrius was  _ not _ treating her well. 

“Hi, Vanessa.” Cherise said. Her voice had a kind of urgency to it, and Vanessa noticed the wild look in her eyes, the way they were darting back and forth. Her hands rubbed together nervously in front of her, and she leaned in to peer into the kitchen before she continued, “Can I come in?”

“Sure.” Vanessa said, stepping aside. Cherise stepped in, her mousy brown hair looking soft as ever. Vanessa remembered fondly running her fingers through it. 

She went into the kitchen immediately, and Vanessa followed. Cherise plopped down in one of the chairs and looked down at the ground, biting her lip. Vanessa knew she had to figure out what was happening. 

“So,” She said, swinging into the chair across from her, “What brings you to this neighborhood? Glad to see you ditched the dick.”

“Yes, a very recent development.” Cherise informed her, speaking fast. “I’m actually here because of him. I have to warn you. His obsession with you has gotten out of control, and-”

“Wait.” Vanessa interrupted, her brows drawing together. “He’s  _ still _ obsessed with me?”

Cherise nodded, and Vanessa felt her stomach get a little bit queasy. That bastard really didn’t let things go, did he?

“Not only is he obsessed with you,” Cherise said, “But he seems… Genuinely bent on revenge. I left him when he started training.”

“Training?” Vanessa asked, blinking. 

“Magically, yes.” Cherise said. 

“He knew magic before.” Vanessa pointed out, her brows drawing together. Honestly, was Cherise doing alright? Had she hit her head and gotten some kind of amnesia or something. 

“Not forbidden magic.” Cherise said, looking down. There was true, genuine fear in her voice, and Vanessa felt the blood in her veins turn to ice. 

With forbidden magic, you could do… almost anything. And it was forbidden  _ for a reason _ . Most forbidden magic was cruel, unusual, and absolutely diabolical. Vanessa had  _ never _ wanted to touch it. 

“What kind of forbidden magic?” She asked, panic rising. Maybe, if she knew what spells he knew, she could do something to prevent them. She could learn defensive maneuvers.

Cherise opened her mouth to respond, but she was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. Vanessa turned, eyes wide. That wasn’t Wade’s playful rhythm, and it wasn’t Peter’s knock, either. 

The tension in the room was palpable. Cherise was shaking, hard. Vanessa wondered whether or not she had seen some of this forbidden magic firsthand, and then decided that she didn’t want to know. 

Cherise looked terrified. Vanessa knew the look of a battered woman when she saw one. She felt anger rise in her, and she knew that she couldn’t let Cherise be involved in this. She’d already been through too much. 

“ _ The bedroom. _ ” She mouthed, pointing. Cherise stood, silently, and quickly slinked across the floor to hide in the little room. 

Vanessa had kicked his ass once before, and she really intended to do it again, whether or not he had fancy forbidden spells. And then, she would  _ report his ass _ , and he would likely be given a very public execution. Which she would personally arrange for Cherise to attend with an extra large bag of popcorn. 

She walked over to the door and opened it, raising her eyebrow. 

Demetrius’ hand came up over the hinge, stopping her from closing it on him. As if she would do that. 

“What are you here for?” She asked, flatly. 

“You… humiliated me.” He told her, his voice shaking. He took a step forward and she held her ground as their chests pressed up against one another. “You  _ denied me _ -”

“That was years ago.” She interrupted, attempting to talk some sense into him. She knew that it likely wouldn’t work, but she still felt a responsibility to try. If nothing else, for Cherise’s sake. She had dealt with enough violence. 

“Good thing I have a strong memory.” He said, his voice unhinged. 

Actually, everything  _ about _ him was unhinged. The collar of his shirt was popped up, his hair was greasy and far longer than his usual look. His five-o’clock shadow left patches along his jawline. She didn’t like what she saw. 

She backed up , and he saw it as a sign of weakness. 

He raised his hand, a grin spreading across his face. “Oh, this is going to be  _ fun _ . Outward, Circle for Two!” 

He threw his hand down and a golden ring of light wrapped around their feet. Vanessa knew this spell; she’d read about a lot of forbidden magic when she was younger, out of curiosity. She wanted to know how to defend herself if there was ever a situation like the one she was in now. 

“Wow,” She said, resigning herself to violence. “Didn’t realize that a death match was your style.”

The Circle for Two was a spell that required one or both of the individuals in the circle to die by the other’s hand before either of them could step out. Unless someone voluntarily subbed for you, there was no way out of it. Vanessa gritted her teeth, standing her ground and feeling the energy flow around her. She knew who would be walking out of this circle. 

“Oh, this isn’t going to be a deal match.” He said. There was something about his grin that made her hesitate. 

“Infinity Shield!” He shouted, and an opaque light appeared between them. She raised her eyebrows. Oh, great. So now they were going to be stuck here awhile.

“What, you think that dinky little shield is going to hold up forever?” She questioned, raising her eyebrows. 

“I think it’ll hold up long enough for me to do this.” He said, darkly. He raised his hands a third, final time. “Flames.”

Her cabinets, the chair she had been sitting in while talking to Cherise, and the bottoms of her walls erupted into splendid flames, dancing. She froze, eyeing them with uncertainty. She turned back to him.

“You… Do realize that the spell you just cast can only be broken by one of  _ us _ killing the other, right?” She asked. “In an honorable way. If something outside of this bubble does it... like, for example,  _ that fire, _ ” she pointed towards the flickering flames that were slowly devouring her house, leaving the air filled with putrid smoke, “the other one of us is stuck in here until they die.”

“What made you think I had intentions of coming out of this alive?” He asked. 

Vanessa froze. 

“You wouldn’t.” She challenged, immediately. “You’re too much of a coward. You have your riches, you have your family name. You wouldn’t do this.”

But doubt was flickering in her like the fire along the edges of her vision. He laughed, a harsh and joyless sound. “I spent my money having sex with prostitutes and learning forbidden spells. Cherise left me. My uncle severed my family ties as the new head of the family after my father died. I have nothing to lose. The one last thing I want out of this life is to see  _ you _ lose everything, too.”

Vanessa was panicking now. She heard the truth in his voice and she knew that she was in a heap of trouble. She didn’t want to die when she had so much to live for. Peter would be absolutely  _ crushed _ . But how could she kill him to escape? And in a way that the ancient magic wouldn’t find lacking honor?

“Vanessa!”

She turned. Cherise ran out of the bedroom, coughing as she stumbled across the floor. Smoke was evident across her olive-colored skin, and Vanessa felt a swell of panic. 

“Get out of here!” She warned, turning towards her. Cherise held her ground, unwavering as she forced herself to stand up straight. Vanessa felt fear and concern mingle in her. 

“No.” She said, her voice strong. “He’s already ruined my life. Cut off my ties with my family, with my friends. Beaten me.”

Vanessa watched as she stepped forward. Flames flickered near her ankle and Vanessa tried to quell the fire, but putting it out had never been her strong suit and she knew from the gleaming rings on his fingers that Demetrius was playing with magic too strong for her to parallel. His trust fund had paid for more amplifiers than she could ever dream of. His magic would have been strong thanks to the many artifacts he had to increase its potency. 

She tried anyways. When she couldn’t quell the fire, she tried summoning one of her own, her hands erupting into flame as she attempted to hurl it at the protective shield. But it was like bulletproof glass. She would never be able to shatter it in time.

“I’m not letting him hurt you, too.” 

Cherise’s voice was too loud, she was too close. Vanessa knew that she knew the rules to this game; Cherise had always been smart, interested in accumulating as much knowledge as possible. She saw it as her own secret way of hoarding power. And she was about to use that power now. 

Cherise threw herself into the ring, and pushed Vanessa out. 

“I will take Vanessa’s place against you.” 

Vanessa knew that she could not re-enter the ring once someone had tapped in for her. There was nothing that she could do in this situation. Nothing but cry. 

“Cherise, no!” She called out, desperately. 

She looked at Demetrius. His face was filled with rage beyond anything that she’d ever seen before. 

“You  _ bitch! _ ” He snarled, and the flames rose higher with his anger. Vanessa felt the heat scorch her thigh and she quickly moved, turning back and wincing at the intense burn of her new wound. “You’ll pay for this. Death is not the only way I can make her suffer.”

Vanessa turned to him, her eyes widening. 

She knew exactly what he was referring to. It was a spell so intense, so powerful, not even all the rings and tokens and totems he had would be able to make it last very long. But that didn’t stop her from being afraid. A week of that spell would be hell to her, especially with her having just found Peter. 

“Kill him!” Cherise shouted. 

“That would leave you in the fire!” Vanessa shouted back. Her house was going to burn, now. She just had to try and save what was most important. 

“It doesn’t matter! Save yourself, please!” Cherise begged. 

“As brought together, brought into the dark, time is now or never, tear these soulmates apart!” He shouted. Vanessa felt something in her take a hit. Horror consumed her as she realized that the spell had worked. She could feel that it was flimsy, could feel that it wouldn’t last long. 

But if she saw Peter or Wade at  _ all _ while it was in effect, one of them could die. Or worse, it could snap their soulmate connection forever. As in,  _ for the rest of eternity _ . The good news was that, since she was the only one present, it shouldn’t have affected Peter and Wade’s bonds.

Still, it had brought Demetrius to his knees. Sweat covered his brow as the flames licked closer. The exit was quickly closing, and small pieces of the house’s beams were falling apart in flaming chunks, raining to the floor. 

“Kill him!” Cherise begged. “He has the-”

“Years. One, two, three-”

Vanessa turned. It dawned on her what he was holding, and she felt her heart fall to her feet. It was the spell extender. The one that he had given her so many years ago.

“Four, five, six-”

She glanced towards Cherise. She loved her, like a sister. Cherise, who had came to warn her. Cherise, who was literally attempting to give her  _ life _ for Vanessa. Could she do it? Could she let Cherise die?

“Vanessa, please! There’s no way out of this and you know it!” Cherise begged, her eyes wide. 

Panic welled within her. She didn’t know what to do. Her breathing was coming too fast. It already felt like she had lost so much, and the fight was far from over. She had a decision to make, and she had to make it fast. Or no matter what she chose, he would win. And she would be without Peter and Wade for the rest of her life.

“Seven, eight, nine,”

“If you let him do this, I still die and he wins.” Cherise begged.

Grief swarmed her, surrounded her, engulfed her, and filled her with more magic than she’d  _ ever _ felt. The fire rose, the flames on the floor leaping to the ceiling and the dull roar coming into a rapid crescendo. 

“Ten, el-”

She ran out the thin path left, sprinting, as fast as she could, feeling satisfaction at his desperate cries of pain. Anything he could have said was cut off in screams. She breathed heavily, closing her eyes, before she pushed the fire further.

Cherise didn’t deserve to slowly suffer. This was all Vanessa had to offer her. 

However short, every cry of pain she heard drove a splinter into Vanessa’s heart, wounds she didn’t ever think would fully heal.

She took a moment, pain radiating through her. Cherise was gone. Her friend, her companion, at one point, her lover. She was dead.

But she didn’t have time to mourn now. Cherise had died to give her a chance. And  _ a decade _ from now wasn’t  _ never _ . 

She turned to the woods, panic welling within her. Seeing nothing, she turned towards the horse post. Demetrius had ridden here on a horse, luckily. She had to leave on it. Peter couldn’t come back, couldn’t see her. It would be too risky. 

She wanted to be with him again, eventually.

Tears running down her face, she grabbed the horse’s reins and mounted, leaning forward and urging him into a gallop. 

As she cried and ran, her only plan to get away from this place, as far away as possible, one thing stuck out in her mind. 

She wasn't sure whether or not he had made it to eleven. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plot twist, I know, I know.   
> Please still love me.  
> Also please comment.


	17. Chapter Seventeen-Present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, finally. I know the updating time sucked for this chapter, sorry about that :/

_ Present Day _

Peter had thought a lot about what Wade had said. 

He had thought about it for a few days, in fact. He had thought about it so hard and so much that he ended up uncharacteristically quiet, causing Wade to fret over him and make constant inquiries as to whether or not he was feeling okay. He made Peter breakfast, tried to distract him with terrible games of I-spy, and even gave Peter a trinket he had picked up for him at the market but was saving for a special occasion. 

Peter was sitting at the table now, spinning the brightly colored red-and-blue spinning top on the wooden surface, watching it spin round and round. 

_ I don’t want to be like that spinning top _ . Peter thought.  _ I want to do something different. I don’t want to go around and around in circles. I want to make a commitment. _

He watched Wade, who was mostly done cooking their dinner over the fire. Sometimes, you just have to let it burn. 

“I want you to fuck me.” He said. 

Wade turned around, blinking at him with large eyes. 

“Um,” He said, gesturing towards the pot. “Can we eat first?”

Peter grinned softly, and Wade took the pot off the stove, sitting it on the counter. 

“Didn’t expect you to prioritize food over sex.” Peter teased. Wade rolled his eyes, pouring both of them a little bit of the vegetable soup he had made. Some of the veggies in their garden were just beginning to yield their crops, and Wade was already taking full advantage of that. 

“If we don’t eat,” Wade explained, handing Peter a bowl, “Then we’ll be too hungry to go for rounds two and three.”

Peter nodded, understanding the logic. He picked up his spoon and went through his bowl as fast as he could without getting sick. Judging by the hurried sound of spoon scraping against bowl, Wade was going through his just as fast. 

As soon as he was done, Wade scooped Peter up into his arms and held him tight against his chest. Peter grinned at him, wrapping his arms around Wade’s neck. 

“Honestly,” Wade said, “I didn’t think you were serious at first.”

“I figured.” Peter said, shrugging. 

Wade carried him into the bedroom, a repetition of the previous routine. Peter felt a swell of arousal as Wade tossed him onto the bed, pulling his own shirt off of his head. Peter’s hands fell immediately to his pants, unbuttoning them and sliding them down over his slender hips. 

Wade’s eyes rested on the already-growing bulge in his underwear and he slipped between Peter’s legs immediately, his mouth falling to Peter’s thighs as he kissed a trail up and up, pausing to suck a mark into Peter’s skin. 

When he felt the first suck, Peter’s muscles started quaking. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He’d been cockblocking himself  _ way too fucking much _ , and he wasn’t about to keep it up. It didn’t matter if he thought about Vanessa. It didn’t matter if it hurt. 

He couldn’t stop himself from living his life just because hers was over. 

“Fuck, Wade,” He breathed out, bucking up. Wade disconnected from the spot of skin he had been sucking and continued kissing up Peter’s thigh, mischief in his eyes. 

He kissed along Peter’s bulge, and Peter let out a little sound as the pleasure and  _ want _ swirled in his gut, begging Wade to take him in his mouth. 

“You want it?” Wade asked. He then emphasized his point by licking a wet trail up Peter through the cloth, causing Peter’s hips to buck. 

“Please.” Peter begged. 

Wade pulled away, an evil glint in his eyes. “Hold on, I’ll be right back.”

He slipped out of the bed and walked into the kitchen. Peter grabbed the bottom of his own shirt and took it off, leaving himself entirely bare save for his now wet underwear. Wade came back around the corner with a little bottle in his hand. 

“This is lubricant.” He explained. But Peter knew what it was. He  _ did _ still masturbate, and he’d taken things up his ass before. In fact, he  _ really _ liked the sensation, as long as he was properly prepared ahead of time. 

“I know, Wade.” He responded, a little exasperated. “Get over here, please.”

Wade grinned and slipped back onto the bed. Peter spread his legs, closing his eyes and preparing himself for Wade’s lips back on him, teasing and taunting. But Wade didn’t stop at his cock, crawling up and over Peter’s legs to sit on either side of his torso. Peter opened his eyes just in time to see Wade lean down for a kiss. 

The kiss was slow and intimate, probing into Peter’s mouth and undoing him in all the  _ right _ ways. Wade was an expert kisser; slow and deliberate. He set Peter’s entire body on fire with the touch. Wade’s hips tilted against Peter’s and Peter let out a needy moan into Wade’s mouth, bucking up against him. 

“ _ Shit _ ,” Wade breathed, grinding his own hardened cock down against Peter’s, “Stop, stop. Let’s save my stamina for later.”

Peter nodded, fully ready for what was to come. 

Wade snuck back down his body, kissing all along his chest and hip bones. Peter was shaking, coming undone under his hand, and he was loving every minute of it. 

He finally stopped and took Peter out of his underwear. Peter could feel himself throb. Every move against him was making him grow more and more aroused, his cock growing more and more needy. 

Wade slipped his underwear down over his ankles, letting his cock go and admiring its curve before he picked up the oil and squirted a generous amount on three of his fingers. 

Peter watched as he guided those fingers forward, bringing them to his entrance. 

His breath caught in his throat as he felt Wade push a single finger against that tight ring of muscle. He forced himself to relax and Wade’s finger slipped in, rubbing up against his walls deliciously. It had been awhile since he’d done anything like this, so he was going to need a fair amount of preparation. 

Wade’s finger wasn’t enough for long. Soon, Peter was craving more, flexing around the finger to feel it harsher inside him. Wade took the signals and added a second one, with it coming a filling, stretching sensation that made Peter’s cock throb. 

Wade’s lips found their way to Peter’s shaft, and he licked a long line up it. Peter let out a strangled sound of self control as Wade’s fingers pushed further back, stretching and preparing him. 

“A third,” He requested, his muscles loose and compliant beneath Wade’s touch. Wade grinned and added a third. A slight burn accompanied this; Peter hadn’t been  _ quite _ as ready as he’d originally thought. 

But Wade made up for it by taking his whole cock into his mouth, bobbing his head up and down as he moved his fingers inside of Peter, bringing all the heat in his body, all the sensation, straight to his hips. 

“Fuck,” He breathed, hips bucking up into the sensation of Wade’s mouth before back against his fingers. 

There was a dull ache in his chest as he looked down as Wade’s bobbing head. This reminded him, strangely enough, of when he had eaten Vanessa out. Her taste, her  _ sounds _ , everything was so perfect. 

But he didn’t tell Wade to stop. 

He knew that Vanessa would want this for him. He knew that she wouldn’t want him to remain celibate for the rest of his life, and he didn’t intend to. She would want this for him, so he was going to push through the pain, and he was going to  _ get fucked by Wade _ goddamnit. 

Wade pushed Peter as far back into his mouth as he possibly could, back against his throat, and then his throat relaxed. He deepthroated Peter, rubbing against his walls and swallowing all at once, and Peter’s hands turned into claws at the bedsheets as his orgasm overcame him  _ instantly _ , lighting up his body with sensation as he cried out, spilling down Wade’s throat. 

Peter went absolutely  _ boneless _ , sagging against the pillows. Wade withdrew his fingers, and he made a small noise of dissatisfaction, instantly missing the feeling of being  _ full.  _

“Don’t worry,” Wade comforted, crawling up Peter’s body before reaching up and running his clean hand through Peter’s hair lovingly, “It won’t be long.”

He positioned his hips, his legs underneath Peter’s. He sat up, grabbing Peter’s legs and then hoisting them up. Peter allowed it, moving and holding himself just  _ so _ to make Wade’s job a little easier. 

Wade pushed forward, slowly at first. His cock pressed up against Peter’s entrance and Peter felt his own cock twitch, even in its incapacitated state. Wade started to push in and Peter grabbed the bedsheets again, breathing out and forcing himself to relax. 

It was slow going. Wade’s cock was  _ massive,  _ stretching and pushing at his walls, filling him up to the brim. Wade’s cock  _ also _ pushed harshly against his still-sensitive prostate, making it oh-so-hard not to squirm and tense and do  _ something _ , the pleasure too intense and too  _ much _ for his still-sensitive body. 

“Wade,” He whined, wiggling. It only served to push Wade further in. Peter’s whole body was thrumming again, but his cock was still soft against his leg. It was an odd sensation, but not one that he didn’t like. 

“Fuuuck,” Wade breathed, fully seating himself inside of Peter. Peter felt himself twitch around Wade, and he knew that he was testing Wade’s self-restraint. He kept breathing, head spinning with the fullness, as he felt his cock twitch again, keeping just the  _ smallest _ bit of his hardness. 

“Move,” Peter requested. He needed something more intense, a steady pressure, and not the maddening sensation of Wade just  _ sitting there _ , pressing hard against him from every angle, and-

He knew his thoughts were getting away from him, but Peter felt every single active brain cell that he had go haywire as Wade started moving. It was a steady rhythm at first, a solid back and forth that left the bed rocking and Peter gasping, moving in time with Wade’s thrusts, mindlessly chasing the too-hot sensation of Wade pounding into him. 

Wade increased the pace, and Peter gave a low groan of satisfaction. Wade bent Peter’s legs back and Peter allowed it, glad to see Wade coming closer. His mouth reached Peter’s neck and Peter bared his skin to him, his now half-hard cock aching as Wade sucked a mark into his neck, pushing himself harder into Peter with every mind-numbing thrust of that massive, ribbed cock. 

Wade pulled away only when Peter was covered in a sufficient amount of his markings. 

They were doing it. Peter was  _ really _ having sex again. And he was thinking about Vanessa-- the way she laughed, the way she teased him, the joy that sparkled in her eyes when she said something she  _ knew _ was clever. But it wasn’t stopping him. 

The low dull burn in his chest, thoughts of missing her, wasn’t stopping him from enjoying his time with Wade. Wade, who he loved. 

Wade, who was currently giving him the slow, maybe-still-too-gentle fucking of his  _ life _ . 

“Please, faster,” Peter begged, arching as Wade hit his prostate again. Wade grinned, pressing his forehead against Peter’s. Peter looked into Wade’s crystal blue eyes, hands coming up to wrap around Wade’s shoulders, holding him there. “Fuck, Wade.  _ Yes _ .”

Wade was going harder and faster now, a near-perfect rhythm that was slowly but surely bringing Peter’s still-sore dick back to life. It rubbed up against Wade’s chest on every thrust, and Peter knew that despite having just came, he was  _ definitely _ going to cum again before this was over with. 

“Fuck, Peter,” Wade groaned, his eyes fluttering shut as he panted softly, the exertion clear as he thrusted harder and faster, assaulting Peter with a myriad of pleasure as he spoke so softly, held his legs tight in his grip. Peter hoped there would be bruising there tomorrow. 

“Wade,” He groaned. Wade just kept fucking  _ nailing _ his prostate, over and over, turning him into a giant pile of mush. He could tell by the tenseness of Wade’s muscles that he was holding back still, going gentle on Peter because he’d never been fucked like this before. Peter didn’t want that anymore. He wanted all of it. He wanted Wade to be rough. “Don’t hold back.”

At those words, Wade became a completely different animal. Whatever it was he had been holding back came out full force, and he absolutely  _ pounded  _ into Peter. 

If Peter couldn’t think before, his mind was torn from his body and sent into  _ oblivion _ then. Cries and pleads rang from his lips like prayers as Wade went harder and faster, driving him beyond any pleasure he’d felt since he’d fucked Vanessa. 

Vanessa. He thought about her, now, with Wade pounding into him. He thought about how she had likely been in the same position, Wade overtop of her, begging for more and relieved beyond belief when he gave it. He thought about her, and the burn in his chest intensified.  _ God _ , he missed her. 

He felt tears trailing down his cheeks from the pleasure, the  _ overwhelming _ pleasure and the feelings that he couldn’t quite hide, couldn’t quite squish down. But it was okay. For once, it was going to be okay. 

Wade continued to pound into him, his stomach rubbing up against Peter’s cock. Peter cried out as he hit his prostate particularly hard, pleasure spiking and running along his body like elecricity through his veins, teetering on the edge as he desperately tried to last, wanting to prolong this, feel this moment until he couldn’t feel any more.

But Wade was  _ relentless, _ and he shoved Peter over the edge with a strangled cry of his name as he came in long, hot bursts, coating both of their chests as his muscles spasmed.

Wade kept thrusting, milking everything that he could out of Peter, his hips finally stuttering as the sights and sounds of his lover’s orgasm finally pushed him over the edge too. He spilled inside of Peter, and Peter felt the warm, hot, sticky proof of his lover’s climax fill him up. 

It… wasn’t  _ horrible _ , to say the least. 

Kinda satisfying, actually. 

As soon as they were both done, they sat there panting. Wade’s cock softened and he pulled it out. Peter shivered as he felt Wade’s cum start to leak out with it, cooling against his skin. He would need to wash that out soon, or it would get uncomfortable. 

Wade collapsed beside him, breathing hard. It wasn’t long before Wade’s arms were wrapping around Peter, pulling him back against Wade’s strong chest. Wade started mumbling sweet nothings into Peter’s ear, interrupted only by quick kisses to his neck and shoulders. 

“You were so perfect,” Wade cooed, kissing Peter’s shoulder. “You’re so pretty when you cum.”

“Right back atchya.” Peter mumbled. Wade chuckled, and nuzzled into his hair affectionately. “Vanessa didn’t let you do this, did she?”

“She called me a sap.” Wade confirmed. Peter rolled his eyes. 

But he let Wade have this. In a way, he kinda needed it, too. 

And, for the first time since Vanessa’s death, he felt like he  _ might _ be able to be happy without her. 

Because he had Wade. Because, while the forest fire of pain burned through him every time he was reminded of her, he could move on. A new forest would grow.

Because he was going to have her back in their next life, and that would have to be enough. 


	18. Chapter Eighteen-Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning in this chapter for alcohol as a coping mechanism

_ Ten Years Ago _

Vanessa downed another shot. She was slumped over the table, her head resting softly against the grainy wood as tears trailed down her face. This felt like a prison sentence. A prison sentence she’d done absolutely nothing to deserve. 

She forced her head up and looked at the bartender, whose eyes were full of sympathy as he passed her another round. He looked young, short, curly brown hair. If she got drunk enough, she knew he would look like Peter.

Peter, who she couldn’t see for eleven more years. She had felt him shut off their bond in his grief when he arrived and didn’t find her there, and then she felt her connection with Wade do the same. She wouldn’t be able to tell whether or not the curse had lifted. So, she would have to wait it out. 

For  _ eleven years _ .

“Looks like someone is drowning some potent sorrow.” 

He had a twisty mustache and a thin face, but surprisingly kind eyes. His pants were held up by suspenders, and there was something odd about him. That was the best way to describe it. He was muscled underneath his shirt, would be handsome if he cared to lose the gimmicks. 

“Aren’t we all, buddy?” She responded. The bartender slid her another, looking at her meaningfully. “What?”

“You’re the only one here.” He pointed out, gesturing to the empty seats. Vanessa turned and looked. Oh. “And I’m cutting you off after this one, alright? No offense, but I’ve gotta go home sometime.”

Vanessa nodded. She wasn’t going to argue. That was fair enough, and it was probably for her own good at this point. 

“Looks like you’ve fallen on hard times.” The strange man pressed. Vanessa turned to him, narrowing her eyes. 

“Yeah?” She questioned. “What’s it to you?”

“I’m also a natural magic user.” He informed her, plainly. “With a bit of a gift.”

“The gift of being vague and unusual?” Vanessa questioned, raising an eyebrow. He laughed at her, and she resisted the urge to deck him in the face and walk out. But she knew that he was telling the truth; he  _ was _ a natural magic user, and she had the feeling that something he had to say  _ might _ be of value to her. If he would get to the goddamned point. 

“The gift of seeing gifts in others.” He elaborated. “I’m putting together a team of performers, natural magic users, to woo and please crowds. Do you think you could shapeshift?”

She paused, considering what he had said. Natural magic-users, crowd-pleasing shows, it sounded like it could be… Fun? And she was certain that she could shapeshift, if she was given the resources to learn how. But again, it would all depend on her getting a good enough teacher. 

“What’s in it for me?” She asked, knowing full and well to ask that question. 

“You get a group of fellow magic-users to learn with, and a teacher.” He elaborated. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small book, setting it on the bar. With a wave of his hand it had enlarged and grown as tall as the counter was wide, revealing a title written in sprawling gold lettering, ‘ _ The Big Book of Spells _ ’. 

She knew that title. 

This was one of very few copies of a book that had been created specifically to link into the akashic records, bringing knowledge of every spell ever created and used straight to its own pages along with extensive knowledge of how to perform it. This? This could mean an  _ opportunity _ . One that was too damn sweet to pass up. 

“And what, exactly, do I have to promise in return?”

“I need someone who will shift into a tiger and do tricks for the audience. In exchange for access to the book, you will entertain crowds. You will be free to leave at any point in time after a year of employment, guaranteed roof over your head and food in your belly, but you have to be okay with extensive travel.”

“Let me think about it.” She responded, knowing that she wasn’t in her right mind to make decisions like this. It sounded good, but she needed time to think through and make sure she wasn’t getting scammed somehow. “Why don’t you find me in a couple days and we’ll talk again then?”

He nodded, standing up. He told the bartender that he would cover her tab, and she didn’t argue. She didn’t typically take charity, but prospects right now were looking grim and she didn’t want to resort to prostitution again so soon after losing her soulmates. Not that she wouldn’t do it eventually, but… When she felt healed. If that ever happened. 

“Hopefully I’ll be seeing you soon?” He asked, extending his hand for a shake. Vanessa eyed it warily for only a moment before she stuck out her own, firmly shaking his hand. 

“If the deal’s good.” She confirmed. 

Walking home that night, she had a good feeling in the pit of her stomach. This didn’t  _ feel _ like a farce. What he was asking of her was straight-up, and she could have him sign a magically binding contract to ensure her freedom to leave and her access to the book. 

She would have to give it more thought. 

But it sounded like a diamond in the rough of this shitty situation. 


	19. Chapter Nineteen- Present

_ Present Day _

Wade and Peter had been together at the cottage for a year, now. 

The goats had produced a fine little baby. Lawnmower was fantastic for milking, and Future Curry still bruised Wade’s knees every once in awhile (NOT in the way that  _ Peter _ bruised his knees, though) and they had a mostly quiet life. 

Excluding a few wild and wacky adventures where they had ended up saving a city from a dragon, taking down a magical drug cartel and breaking up a band of wizards who wanted to bar women from the study of magic. 

Okay, so their lives  _ weren’t _ so quiet. Adventure always seemed to find them. And Peter was okay with that. In fact, he kinda loved it. 

They had found a way to be peaceful, had found a way to be happy, without Vanessa. Wade had helped him find that. 

And he would always miss her. Especially today, on the eleven year anniversary of the day that she had died. 

But he would be okay. 

He knew that now.

~~~ 

Vanessa was standing in the shadows, along the edge of where she used to live. 

She was trying not to cry. 

She had  _ promised herself _ that she wasn’t going to cry until  _ after _ she had went to them. 

She didn’t know what they thought. That she abandoned them, that she must be  _ dead _ . She wondered how long it had taken Wade to come home from war and find Peter there alone. She wondered whether or not they would even want her there.

Would there be anger? Frustration? Denial?  _ Rage _ ? She had sent a letter here after a couple of weeks, thinking that maybe they could still correspond, but she had never gotten an answer. That made her nervous. That made her lonely. That made her afraid. Afraid of what they might think of her.

She forced herself to step into the sunlight. 

She would never know until she actually confronted them.

~~~ 

Wade was working outside, in the gardens, when he saw a ghost flicker at the corner of his eye. 

He turned, rapidly, dropping the ho he had been working with (heh, ho) and searching the edge of the forest. He expected to see nothing, expected it to be a trick of the eyes. Once he saw that she wasn’t disappearing, wasn’t moving, he expected her to evaporate at any moment. When he saw that she was  _ older _ , had  _ aged _ , had  _ changed _ , he didn’t think. 

He walked. 

And she walked. 

And they ran into each other’s arms, and it was  _ Vanessa _ . It was  _ Vanessa _ and she was in his arms, and he could feel their soulmate connection tugging at him like he hadn’t felt it in years. It made him feel fucking  _ amazing _ . He could understand what she felt and feel her heart close to his. He had thought, all this time, that the ghost pains and aches and longings in his heart were exactly that-- those of a ghost. 

His face was buried in her soft hair, and he breathed in her scent deeply. Rose and Sandalwood. Suddenly, he pulled back, looking at her face. 

“Am I dead?” He asked. He wished that he could bring himself to care, but he couldn’t. All he could think about now was the fact that one of the loves of his life were  _ in his arms _ . It didn’t matter whether or not he was dead. “I… I thought  _ you _ were dead.”

“No, baby.” She responded, her voice raspy as she looked up. Tears were streaming down her face as she reached up, her hand ghosting along Wade’s cheek. 

Peter came out of the house then, and they turned. Wade felt overwhelming joy at the fact that he was here to enjoy this, too. Both of his soulmates. Together and  _ happy _ . 

“Ten bucks says he asks if we’re dead, too.” Wade mumbled. Vanessa laughed and hit his chest, and the sound of her joy seemed to break Peter out of the frozen state he had entered. 

He walked out of the house, and took long strides towards the two of them. 

He fell to his knees at her feet, looking her up and down with tears in his eyes. He was shaking like a leaf in a storm and Wade wanted to scoop him up and into the hug, but he knew that Peter needed a little bit more time to process this before that happened. 

“Are we dead?” Peter managed, looking up at Vanessa. 

Wade swept down then and pulled him up, shoving him in between him and Vanessa and sandwiching him in a hug. 

Fuck waiting for Peter to catch up. Whatever had happened, they had waited long enough. 

He didn’t know how long they stood there, a crying mess, hugging like three lunatics in the middle of the dirt road, but the sun was significantly higher in the sky when they finally willed themselves to pull away. 

He turned towards Vanessa, feeling a million different things pulling him a million different ways. But primarily, it was happiness. Pulling him directly towards her. 

“I hope you know you have some ‘splainin to do.” He said, half teasing. Vanessa laughed, nodding. 

“I know.” She said, sadly. “And I wanna hear some ‘splanin, too.”

~~~ 

“So you two both thought that  _ both _ of your soulmates were  _ dead _ ?” Vanessa asked. God, that sounded  _ terrible _ . She wished she had left some kind of a note, but she knew that every moment she had spent at the ashen remains of the house put her further and further in danger of seeing Peter again. And she didn’t want to risk losing him. 

“Victims of circumstance.” Peter confirmed. Vanessa put her head on the table and sighed, blinking away the tears that were threatening. “But we don’t blame you.”

“Yeah, Ness.” Wade said, sincerely. “You had to get out of there. You did the right thing.”

Vanessa still felt guilty. 

“What’s important is that we’re all together now.” Peter said, his hand coming forward to rest on hers. 

Vanessa pulled her head up, looking at Peter. She smiled a little, and felt her heart soften. Yeah. Whatever was in the past was gone now. If they all spent their lives whining about shitty childhoods and dead or abusive parents and being victims of circumstance, they wouldn’t be real lives. They needed to move on. They needed to make the rest of what they had pleasant instead of worrying about the past. 

“I agree.” Vanessa said, nodding. 

There was a silence as the three of them sat, absorbing each other’s presence. Vanessa could feel the need rising up within all of them, the need to be closer. The need to  _ feel _ , to solidify the fact that they were  _ real _ and this was  _ happening _ and they were  _ together _ , at last. 

“Is anyone else horny?” She asked. 

“Yep.” Peter said, standing up.

“Of course.” Wade responded, scoffing before he followed suit. 

“Cool.” Vanessa said, rising and turning. She walked, immediately, towards the bedroom. “Last one there doesn’t get the first kiss.”

Peter and Wade sprinted forward, both of them eager to reach the bedroom with their presumed-dead lover. 

Once there, they found Vanessa already unlacing her shirt, revealing more and more of her breasts as she moved down, her dark skin glowing with soft radiance. She’d done some skincare before she came, and she knew it would be soft and enticing.

“I think we tied.” Wade said, walking forward. Vanessa grinned at him and came forward, wrapping her leg up over his waist and turning over her shoulder, beckoning Peter forward. Peter came like a fly to honey, his hands falling to her hips as he pressed up against her ass. He buried his face in her hair and breathed in her scent, and his hot breath coming out made lust prick along her skin. 

“I’d say so, yeah.” Vanessa agreed. “Wanna try to kiss me at the same time, too? You know, I do have two sets of lips…”

Wade laughed and Peter chucked, the two of them against her, warming her, encasing her in what she could feel was a glowing love. 

“I think we can work something out.” Peter breathed, across the shell of her ear. 

She shivered, and she saw Wade’s eyes darken. 

“I see someone has gained a little bit of confidence since I last saw you.” She teased. “Now, what do you guys want?”

“You.” Both of them said, at the same time. Vanessa tilted her head, giving Peter more access to her neck. He kissed along it, leaving a hot, wet trail. 

“Good thing I have enough holes.” Vanessa purred. 

Their clothing was shed quickly; Vanessa pushing off her own shirt as soon as Peter pulled away. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and her hard nipples faced an immediate assault from Wade, who licked over them like they were a long-forbidden treat. Her back arched and Peter’s hands came around her waist to unbutton her pants, pulling down the zipper and slipping them off of her hips. They fell to the floor and she stepped out of them as Wadde pulled off his own, grinning at her. 

She grabbed Wade’s shirt and pulled it from him, Wade lifting his hands to cooperate. As soon as she was done with him she turned and grabbed Peter’s pants, pulling him forward roughly and kissing him on the lips. Peter moaned into her mouth as she unbuttoned them, and she returned the moan as Wade grabbed two handfuls of her ass. 

They broke away from the kiss and Wade spun her around as Peter stepped out of his pants, almost tripping along the way. Wade was already bare and she could see his hard cock curved up against him, touching his stomach. 

“I’ve missed you.” She breathed. 

“I’ve missed you too.” Wade returned, sentimentality in his voice. 

“I wasn’t talking to you.” She teased, dropping to her knees. Wade made a mock-offended face, his hands tangling in her hair as she leaned forward, her breath ghosting along the tip. 

“Oh, missed my  _ cock _ , did ya?” Wade questioned. 

“Very much.” She said, enthusiastically. 

She then proceeded to prove her point by swallowing Wade down until he hit the back of her throat and bobbing enthusiastically, engulfing him in the tight, wet cavern of her mouth. Wade shuddered, his body relaxing as she worked, setting a nice, steady pace. 

Peter watched from the bed, his cock throbbing at the sight of Wade’s face in bliss, Vanessa on her knees in front of him. Wade had praised Vanessa’s ability to use her mouth many times, an ability that Wade assured him he rivaled. 

Vanessa pulled off, not wanting this to be over too quickly. She wanted to test Wade’s endurance here, wanted to make him  _ earn  _ her orgasm. That was one reason that they worked so well together, sexually. Wade  _ loved _ a good challenge, and Vanessa loved to make it hard on him, pun intended. 

“We’re definitely doing that later,” Peter piped up. Vanessa turned and saw him watching them, his eyes hungry. “But with me fucking Wade’s mouth  _ while _ you suck him off.”

“That’s a fantastic idea.” Vanessa agreed. Wade looked overwhelmed with possibilities. 

“Enough with the chit-chat.” Wade asserted, walking forward and putting his hand on Vanessa’s lower back, guiding her towards the back. “You two lovebirds rekindle while I go get the lube.”

Wade disappeared into the kitchen and Vanessa crawled onto the bed, her eyes wild and hungry. Peter felt his cock twitch as her legs spread, bringing her wet pussy up against him. He knew he wasn’t going to fuck her there  _ today _ , but the anticipation that he would  _ ever _ be able to do it again made his adrenaline spike and his head spin. God, she was  _ so _ hot. 

She leaned over him, her breasts hanging down. His hand reached up before he could stop it, cupping her left breast. She gave a soft moan, melting under his touch as she leaned forward, resting her face softly against the warm skin of his neck. 

“You know,” She said, nuzzling him, “I’ve been looking forward to fucking you again for eleven years. But I think I’ve been looking forward to  _ this _ more.”

Peter opened his mouth to ask  _ what _ , but she was too fast for him. Her mouth was on his and her tongue was in his mouth and sliding against his, hot and sweet and just  _ Vanessa _ . She had a lot to offer and she offered it all, willingly, baren before him now. And this was about  _ more _ than just sex. 

This was  _ Vanessa _ . And she was back. And he felt every single cell of his being sing with the truth of it. 

“I’m back.” Wade said, walking into the room. “Hey, do either of you know whether or not olive oil can be used as lube?”

“The Greeks did it.” Peter piped up. Vanessa put her finger to his mouth. 

“Nerd.” She accused, flatly. Peter grinned, taking it for the teasing that it was. 

“How sure  _ are _ you?” Wade asked. He sighed. “God, I wish this was a  _ modern _ au. Then I could just be like,  _ hey, Siri, can I put Olive Oil up my asshole? _ And she’d have an answer for me.”

“It’s fine.” Vanessa vouched, the same humor in her voice. Her and Peter shared a look, a little one that showed that neither of them knew  _ what _ Wade was on about, but at least there was another person who understood their suffering in the room. 

“Alright,” Wade agreed, climbing onto the bed. “It’s your asshole, you make the call.”

“It’s fine.” Peter seconded, feeling just slightly argumentative. He had  _ history _ on his side, damn it. He knew that Olive oil works fine for your asshole. 

Wade poured some into his palm, coating two of his fingers with it. He ran his hand down Vanessa’s lower back, causing her to shudder. She leaned back into his touch as he approached her ass, fingers lubed. 

“Wanna ride up front while Wade prepares the caboose?”

“That,” Peter said, incredulously, “Was worse than half the things Wade has said.”

“You wound me.” Wade chipped in. 

Vanessa let out a little sound of pleasure as Wade’s finger slipped inside, her face coming alive. It was clear that she liked this, and Peter felt himself grow hotter in response. 

“But yes, I would like that.” Peter informed her. 

Vanessa grinned at him and rocked up, Wade’s hand coming with her. Wade was  _ expertly _ intuitive in the bedroom, which was good, because Vanessa tended to be impulsive. She reached down and grabbed Peter’s cock, and Peter was grateful for all the stamina that he had built over the last year with Wade. 

Because if he hadn’t, he would have blown his load immediately upon Vanessa rocking down onto his cock, taking him into her warmth in one swoop. 

She tightened her muscles around him, moving in small motions so as not to dislodge Wade’s fingers as she rocked down on Peter’s cock. Peter made a small, incapacitated noise. God, she was beautiful. 

Wade added a second finger, and Vanessa’s back arched softly. He wanted to lean over and see Peter’s face, knew it would be a mask of pleasure, knew he would be fully seated inside Vanessa. But he was also patient. He knew that he would see it soon enough, if he worked Vanessa open, and then him and Peter would be inside  _ together _ , and Vanessa would be shuddering with pleasure, begging for them to go faster.

He slipped a third finger in and Vanessa’s muscles relaxed, the slow burn making her go almost limp, lust now peaking as she realized it was time. 

“I’m ready, Wade.” She said. She raised herself up off of Peter’s cock, reveling in the little sound of complaint he made before he realized what she was doing. “Don’t worry. There’s more to come.”

She rose, turned around, and sat back down again. 

“Hold your cock,” She commanded Peter, who did so eagerly. She used her abdominal muscles and her arms, which were now situated on either side of Peter’s torso, to lower herself down. She felt the tip of Peter’s cock push against her hole and she lowered herself, sinking down, her pussy  _ throbbing _ with need at being so deliciously full and yet so  _ empty  _ all at once. 

“Are you ready for me?” Wade asked, his voice heady. Vanessa took a deep breath and nodded, leaning back against Peter’s chest. 

Wade entered her slowly, allowing her body to adjust to both of their girths inside of her. She felt stretched, split open. She breathed shallowly as she enjoyed the feeling of truly being  _ full _ , emotionally and physically, which she hadn’t felt since she left the two of them. 

“Fuck, Wade,” The sound had come from Peter, whose hands were now gripping Vanessa’s hips. Peter could  _ feel _ Wade moving against him through Vanessa’s walls, feel the extra pressure that having a second cock inside of her was creating. 

Wade leaned forward, over Vanessa and Peter, and began to give small, shallow thrusts. Vanessa’s arms came up to wrap around his shoulders and he shuddered as Peter took his cue and started moving at the same excruciating pace, in and out in shallow thrust that set the three of them on fire, Vanessa’s skin burning hot between them, their cocks rubbing each other through her walls as they thrusted. 

“You okay?” Wade asked, his voice soft. The question was intended for both of his lovers; he wanted to make sure that they were both on board. 

Peter’s face was buried in Vanessa’s hair, his eyes tightly closed as he breathed in her scent, bliss evident on the features Wade could see as he thrusted in short little thrusts, Vanessa’s tight heat and her smell and her  _ sounds _ making him come undone. 

Wade took one look at him and he knew that they wouldn’t be able to keep this pace for long. 

“I could take more.” Vanessa responded, eagerly. 

Wade had a split second to admire just how fucking  _ perfect _ the sight of his soulmates all desperate and needy was before Peter sped his tempo, thrusting into Vanessa in still-short, now sharper thrusts. Her eyes widened as she let out little sounds of pleasure, and Wade moved by instinct to match Peter’s thrusts, speeding up.

If sex between them was a crescendo, it was a slow one. The fire ignited in all of them burned brighter with every sweat-slicked touch, every soft whisper of pleasure, the little moans and groans that came when one of them hit the right spot and made Vanessa  _ twitch _ around them, making her impossibly tighter. 

Speaking of impossibly tighter, Vanessa was flexing her pelvic floor muscles now that she had gotten used to the slick slide of them, in and out, making her  _ ache _ with pleasure, her muscles shaking. God, she had missed this. Wade was the only lover that had  _ ever _ made her cum without touching her clitoris, and he was proving now that he still had every bit of his skill in the bedroom. 

And Peter? Peter was good before, a natural. But he had grown tenfold in his ability. 

“Wade, Peter, honey, I’m not made of glass. You can go harder.” She encouraged. 

“Vanessa, Sweetie,” Wade cooed back, half-panting from the exertion and from the pleasure of his cock, the tightness of Vanessa, the  _ hotness _ of the room around them becoming hotter as skin flushed red. His cock was harder than it had  _ ever _ been, and he knew that he was leaking precum already, too excited, Vanessa too perfect. “I don’t know if we can right now.”

“I can.” Peter volunteered. He grounded his feet firmly and began to move his hips faster, drawing sounds of disbelief out of Vanessa as he pounded into her ass. Wade kept his slower pace, knowing that if he sped up and raced with Peter, he’d be cumming in no time. And Vanessa would  _ never _ let it go if he lost an endurance race. 

“Fuck, oh, fuck,” Vanessa cursed, writing on Peter. 

“Isn’t that what we’re doing?” Peter asked hotly, his hips still moving. Wade could see the way his mouth was parting, and his hands were white-knuckled, muscles too tense. He knew Peter was feeling what he was feeling, and he finally allowed himself to let down that final wall. 

He was pounding into Vanessa with abandon, loving the sounds from both of his lovers as they all worked together, sweating and pounding. It was something contagious, almost tangible, pleasure zinging in the air as the crescendo came to a deafening finale. 

“Rub your clit,” Wade told Vanessa, and was happy when she reached down to comply. She could feel her twitch around him at the first touch, and she groaned loudly. 

“God, I thought you’d never ask.” She said, relief clear in her voice. She was twitching around them rhythmically now, with every thrust, the twitches getting harder, pushing him harder against Peter inside of her, and  _ oh God him and Peter were both fucking inside of her _ , and she was getting close, close…

“Can I tell you to do something, too?” Peter questioned.

“Anything you want.” Vanessa promised, “Just keep fucking me.”

“Cum for us, Nessa.” Peter purred, glancing up and making eye contact with Wade. 

That was all the encouragement that either of them needed. Vanessa came  _ hard _ , clenching around Peter and Wade, causing Peter to cry out and Wade to let out a low groan. The sound was a symphony to their ears, a piece for the ages, something so perfect that not Mozart nor Bach nor Choffskey could have composed. 

Wade and Vanessa came at the same time, and Vanessa went boneless against him. 

Peter was still thrusting, though. He could still feel Wade’s cock against him inside Vanessa, and his climax was just around the corner. He felt hot, so hot…. He needed to cum, now. 

“You did such a good job.” Wade told him, reaching out to fondly run a hand through Peter’s hair. Peter leaned into the touch, whining as his orgasm overtook him, hips working diligently, letting himself spill inside Vanessa. Vanessa, who groaned again at the feeling of being filled with his cum. He felt, hotly, like he should fill her up as many times as possible tonight. 

Vanessa. Who was  _ back. _

They both slipped out of her together, and she collapsed boneless onto the bed beside Peter. She was all fucked out, and it showed. But Peter knew her better than to believe that this would be it for the night. Her libido would be active again before the hour had passed. 

“You know,” She said, softly, “I liked that.”

“Good,” Wade said, falling into place behind her. He shoved his arm underneath, and Peter felt a mixture of shock and love hit as Wade’s arm continued on, grabbing him to pull the two of them closer at once. “Because we’re gonna have a lot of time to do it again, and again, and  _ again _ .”

“Forever, in fact.” Peter chimed in, softly. She glanced over her shoulder. They were both looking at him, with love in their eyes.  _ Forever _ . The rest of this lifetime, and all of ones to follow. 

God, he was lucky.

“I think I’m alright with that.” Vanessa teased, her eyes sparkling. His heart squeezed, and tears of happiness swelled in the corners of his eyes.

For the first time in a long time, Peter felt whole. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so this fic draws to a close. It's been a good run, kids.   
> On a serious note, this story means a lot to me and I am really happy that I finished it. Thank you all so much for reading- this actually got like, twice the kudos I was expecting it to get XD. If you're interested in more spideypool content, please subscribe to me as an author. If you aren't interested in any more, thank you for reading this in the first place.   
> If anyone would like to commission me, my tumblr is MysticMoonhigh and you can feel free to contact me there. I will write (almost) anything.


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